The Woodnymph
by BuggyFiction
Summary: For centuries, the woods around mystic falls kept a secret. One that a Salvatore learned as a child. When she starts making her presence more known, her own secrets begin slipping out as she becomes busy protecting those she come to care for over the years. Bella/Kol
1. The Woodnymph

**Mystic Falls, April 28th, 2010.**

"Just take a deep breath," Stefan said as he lead Elena through the woods. "The fresh smell of Spring, without the heightened senses of a vampire."

Elena scoffed as she playfully tugged his arm. "I know what you're trying to do, and I'm not changing my mind," she smiled at him then, before they both startled from the figure rising from the bushes with a growl and launched herself at Elena.

Stefan watched as the creature - no, human, pushed Elena to the ground, pulling her out of his grasp and he was stunned for a moment before pulling the woman off of his girlfriend. The woman reeked, it was almost as if the only shower she had known for a while was the river, he could smell dead fish all over her. Of course, the tattered clothing and the blood spatters on them didn't do much good either, but it wasn't human blood, it was animal blood.

And the woman was still snarling and trying to grab Elena while Stefan kept pushing her away.

"Is this one of his tricks?" Elena said, fear evident in her voice as she scrambled to her feet and made sure that Stefan was between her and the mad woman. "Compel a homeless person to attack me?"

"Why would he do that? He wants you alive, remember?" He countered as he gave her a quick once over before returning his gaze on the pint sized woman, before noticing her true face. "She's a vampire," he said, stunned.

"Oh, great."

"Don't worry, I don't think she feeds on humans," he said as he let the woman go, but found that that had been a mistake as she jumped on Elena again and this time managed to hit her straight in the face with her fist. "Hey!" Stefan pulled harder this time, now knowing that she was a vampire made it easier. He didn't have to hide his own strength. "Stop that!"

"She is playing you, mister," the woman pointed at Elena. "She is twisted."

"Right now, the only one who's twisted here, is you," he said angrily and pulled her closer to him, leveling his gaze at her. "You're going to leave us alone. Go back where you came from and don't ever attack this girl again."

The woman spat in Stefan's face before pulling away and running off.

"What the hell was that!" Elena cried out as she once again got to her feet.

"I don't know, but until we know who or what she is, don't go into the woods without us."

.-.-.-.-.

 **Mystic Falls, April 29th, 2010.**

Damon looked at his brother when he recounted the attack on Elena the day before. "You're serious? The woodnymph attacked Elena?" It was a good thing that they had something else to talk about, it kept his mind off of Tyler's little bite and it would keep Stefan from worrying. Damon wasn't even sure if he was going to tell him, if he had to be honest. There was no coming back from this. End of the line. Best let it happen without too much fussing from Stefan, wouldn't want to mess up his hero hair, would we?

"Woodnymph?" Stefan snorted. "She's a vampire, Damon."

"Well, obviously she's something supernatural seeing as she's been around for at least as long as we have," he huffed as he took a swig of bourbon. "She saved me a couple of times from Giuseppe's wrath when we were kids, and I could have sworn to have seen her when he shot us." He had wanted to use himself as a replacement for Jenna during the ritual, but Katherine said that Klaus thought Damon's blood was impure now that he was bitten. Just peachy. He felt guilty enough about Jenna dying, Elena losing yet again another family member, and he was just about ready to throw in the towel.

"You never told me this."

"As if," Damon rolled his eyes at his brother. "Oh, hey, Stefan, did you know that there's this wildling woodnymph living in the woods? Don't ask me where, because I don't know, but she's there!"

Stefan nodded as he straightened his tie. "You're right, that sounds kinda ridiculous."

"I've never seen her go after a human before though."

"You think she'll do it again?"

"Nah. She doesn't like people much," he waved his brother's concern away. He wasn't worried for Elena's safety, maybe he should be, but from what he could tell, the woman had been harmless. Sticking up for the little man and all that. Or maybe it was simply wish fulfillment. "But maybe. Did you tell Elena not to go to the woods by herself until we know more?"

"Of course."

"Good. Now, let's go, we have a double funeral to attend to," he said chipper and pat his brother on the back. Maybe, after the funeral, he was going to tell his brother about the bite. He wasn't sure yet. Stefan liked to share information with Elena, and the last thing she needed was another person to mourn.

.-.-.-.-.

He needed some time alone. While everyone went back to the house for coffee, tea and cake, Damon needed to clear his head. Make a good plan. Make sure that he wasn't going to leave pieces of himself all over Mystic Falls. Make sure that his death wouldn't be messy.

Oh, who was he kidding? Death was messy and he was feeling sorry for himself. What would Stefan do without him? What would happen to Elena without having an extra set of Salvatore eyes looking out for her? He was currently the strongest non-Original vampire in town, he was going to leave everyone defenseless. Why did he care? He shouldn't care. Nope. Not at all.

He kicked against a tree stump, uprooting it from the soil and watched it soar through the sky and land somewhere in the distance. Instead of the well expected 'thud', he could hear someone cry out in pain and for a moment, he felt a pang in his heart. A pang of guilt. But who was he kidding? Speeding off in the direction of the sound, he wished it had been a human that the stump had fallen on but found the woodnymph dusting herself off while she huffed. "Whoops?"

"Stupid vampires with their stupid strength," she muttered under her breath as she kept hitting herself. "So much sand and leaves and weaves and trees." Her head snapped up to meet Damon's gaze. "I know every tree there is in these woods. You hurt Ezekiel! He was already ailing and you made it worse! Now he'll never grow back again!" She pointed at the stump that lay on its side. "And you nearly lobbed my head off! Is that what I get as payment for making sure you grew up?"

"I am not in the mood!" Damon yelled at her. "I'm sorry, okay!"

"Fine!" the woman yelled back before turning around, grabbing the tree stump and stomped off in the general direction of where he had come from. Curious as what she was up to, Damon followed her, it wasn't as if he didn't have anything else to do. It was almost like a slapstick, watching her carry the rather big stump back to its original place. The stump was bigger than her and she carried it as if it weighed nothing. Maybe Stefan was right and she wasn't a nymph but a vampire.

But a woodnymph sounded so much more magical than a vampire. Part of him didn't want to give up on that idea he summoned as a kid.

He watched her put the stump back in the ground, covering the roots with the soil again and gently caressed the wood as she whispered sweet nothings to it. Soothed it. "Why are you doing that?"

She growled as she put her arms around the stump and looked at Damon. "You've hurt my friend. I'm soothing him."

He let out a breath and sat down in the leaves as he continued to watch her. "Where have you been for the last two hundred years or so?"

"Right here. You didn't need me."

"You don't know that."

"I do," she said as she kissed the stump and got back to her feet. "There. All better." Her focus then shifted entirely onto Damon and she cocked her head. "You're in trouble, aren't you?"

"Ah, it's nothing."

"I can smell it. You've been cursed." Within a blink, she was in front of him and pushing up the sleeves of his jacket. "Oh, that is bad. I think you'll be dead in a couple of days."

"I know," he bit at her as he pulled his arm back.

"There is a way to fix you, well, I think. I've heard stories. Whispers."

"Oh yeah?"

The woman nodded so fast that Damon was afraid her head would snap off her torso. "The trees tell me everything."

"Tell me."

"I can't say," she pulled him to his feet. "Come, I might have something to delay the inevitable."

.-.-.-.-.

 **Mystic Falls, May 1st 2010.**

She had stalked him. It was hard for her to be in town, amongst the humans, mainly because she was quite aware that she looked different. First of all; she wasn't clean, like them. Secondly; her clothes were old. Thirdly; her clothes were hanging on by a thread. Fourthly; they were bloodied and dirty. Fiftly; she was walking barefoot.

She was genuinely worried about Damon. She knew that there was a cure, if you lived for as long as she had, you'd hear stories, but it would be unable to get as the owner didn't like parting with the cure, as it was special. But she didn't want Damon to do something stupid either. All he needed was a little more time so that his brother could figure things out on his own. Maybe a little nudge in the right direction but they'd probably not believe her.

She had studied the humans of Mystic Falls for years, waiting for her beloved to return. She had watched the Salvatore brothers turn because of the blood they ingested from that wench. She knew then that they would be alright, that their new found strength would keep them together and alive. She had watched them come and go to Mystic Falls. She had seen the wars. She had seen _her_ around.

She had watched in fascination when _she_ got locked in the tomb underneath the old Fell's Church and occasionally left bodies of dead animals in front of the sealed door, just to torment her. For what she'd done. Not that she could smell it but still. It was fun in her head. It frustrated her immensely when she was released from the tomb. And that there was a copy of her. Stupid wench. How was this possible? It boggled her mind.

The hope that her beloved was returning was growing stronger by the day with the presence of the new residents of Mystic Falls and that was one of the reasons why she dared to venture into town; maybe she'd see him. She needed to be sure that Damon would come home alright. She followed him back to his home after he had gone over to _her_ place to apologize. Or whatever it was. Maybe to say goodbye. And that was wrong.

She observed him from outside the house. She had to strain to really hear what was going on inside the house, but she could hear it in Damon's voice; something wasn't right. When the curtain moved, she moved quickly. She kicked down the door and rushed in, breaking his neck and dragging him into the shadows, out of harm's way while a surprised Stefan looked on.

"How did you get in?"

"Owner of the house is dead," she said simply before closing the curtain again and slipped Damon's ring back onto his finger. "There's a way to save him."

"Yeah, I gathered that when he told me," Stefan hoisted his brother over his shoulder and started to walk towards the cellars. The sound of bare feet following unnerved him. Was there really a cure for Damon? If so, where was it? A werewolf bite couldn't be cured. And why was she still around? Was she going to stick around? Because that would be interesting to say the least. "Why do you care so much about Damon?"

"Not just Damon," she replied in a singsong voice. "I saved you from drowning, but you don't remember."

"Because I never drowned," he lowered his brother onto the cot in the cellar and closed the door behind him. "Who are you?"

The woman shrugged. "I suppose I could be your guardian angel or whatever."

"Damon called you a woodnymph."

She huffed and then nodded. "That works."

"Are you going to stick around?"

She thought for a moment and nodded as she pointed at the closed door. "Until he is okay."

"Good. Well, why don't you go upstairs and take a nice hot bath and I'll see if I can get you some clothes," Stefan said as he pointed towards the stairs. She seemed harmless. He knew she wasn't, because she had attacked Elena, but she was doing alright now. Now was not the time to ask her why she thought Elena was twisted. She had just saved Damon and she needed to take a shower. Badly.

.-.-.-.-.

She had liked taking a bath. It took her a while to figure out how the buttons worked, but when water came rushing out of it, she was in heaven. Clean water. Hot, but clean. As Stefan had said, by the time she had rinsed all the grime out of her hair, off her body, clothes were laying on the bed in whomever's room she was in.

Women wore pants these days. She didn't like pants, they restricted movement and it looked like a torture instrument, but she got into the denim jeans anyway, finding it surprisingly soft and fitting. The shirt was male sized, but that was okay, she felt more comfortable like that and she could smell Damon on it. Smiling, she mentally gave Stefan a gold star for thinking outside the box.

Stefan had said he was going to find more information on trying to help his brother, but the moment she heard someone else's voice inside the house, she decided to stay upstairs. Listening in on the conversation. This 'Ric' seemed friendly, somewhat, towards Damon, and there was no immediate threat.

She didn't like hearing Damon scream in agony and hoped that Stefan would come back soon, with the cure to Damon's curse.

She moved to the window when she heard cars arrive and saw _her_ , alongside what looked like the police and she was being detained. Things were bad. What if they'd go to Damon? He could hurt them all, or they could hurt him! How dare the woman enter the house uninvited! And she and the other men were going downstairs! She started to pace around like a caged animal. This wasn't good, this wasn't good. They couldn't do this.

No, they couldn't do this. She needed to stop them. To put a stop to all of this and the only way to do that was to kill them all. Yes. To kill them all. No, she couldn't kill them all because that was bad. That was really bad and it would only lead to more trouble. All she could do was to follow Damon and make sure he was alright.

She winced when she heard someone being smacked against the wall and saw Damon flee the house. She opened the window and ran after him. He couldn't be left on his own!

He stumbled across the square, and luckily someone he knew caught him before falling over. She kept her distance, because she wasn't supposed to be there. As long as Damon was being taken care of, she didn't need to be there for him. She followed them to the restaurant, the delicious smells of meat wafting her way and all of a sudden, she was hungry. She needed to feed. But not on humans, no.

She hid behind big metal boxes when the police showed up again. For a moment, when she heard the loud bang, she was worried that Damon had been hit, but saw him a moment later, running away. Running into _her_ arms. Stumbling, fumbling, mumbling. Kissing her. Taking a deep breath, she repressed the anger inside of her before she'd do something impulsive and stupid; such as taking a bite out of that clone. That human clone that couldn't be possible. Damon kept calling her Elena or Katherine. But that was wrong. No, that wasn't good. It was her, not them.

When he collapsed, she knew that _she_ wasn't strong enough to carry Damon back home, so she moved out of the shadows. She growled in warning before picking him up and running back home, making him comfortable in his bed as she waited for the wench to show up. He was burning up, like a fever, and she needed to cool him off.

She rushed to the bathroom, grabbed her discarded towel and put water on it before putting it over his head. Taking a step back, she crossed her arms and waited. Muttering to herself that things were taking too long and that the cure was going to come late. That this wasn't fair and maybe she should fly up in the air. No, she needed to focus. Damon needed her.

 _She_ showed up. Finally. She wasn't sure why, but Damon had been asking for her. It was painful to watch the entire scene before her, knowing what _she_ had done in the past. She was just about to move away when the other one showed up and she felt like her head was going to explode. This wasn't possible. This wasn't good. This was everything that was wrong in the world. How could there be so many of them? Of her?

As her head spun, she fled the house. Damon was going to be alright, it was time to make herself scarce again. Or find Stefan first before deciding to make herself scarce again. Stefan had an even bigger habit of getting into trouble.

.-.-.-.-.

 **Chicago, June 2010.**

She knew that Stefan was up to something, but she didn't like it that it was with Niklaus. They both didn't know that she was around, which was a good thing, but she didn't like the entire situation at all. Stefan was off the rails, or so it seemed. She knew him better than that. He had everything under control.

Right until the point where _she_ , Katherine, decided to call Damon and tell him about Stefan's whereabouts. This was an accident waiting to happen. Things were going to get really difficult for everyone involved because of this. Of course, _she_ liked mayhem. _She_ liked poking her nose into business that didn't involve her. Because it was so much _fun_.

But playing with people, vampire or not, wasn't fun. It was simply a cruel act.

Niklaus took Stefan to a bar that they frequented in the 1920's. Oh yes, she was there. While Damon was safe, he was in a different part of Chicago back then so she had kept an eye on Stefan because he was acting strange. Crazed and completely psychotic. He was a Ripper, just like his mom was before him. She also knew that Nik had been there too, with Rebekah. And that something happened to Stefan that made him forget. She wished that he could remember, so he wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Niklaus wasn't being a great guy either. Maybe she should reveal herself to him and beat the living daylights out of him, punish him for what he was doing. It was unnecessary. He wasn't alone, but if he continued going down the path that he was currently on, he'd certainly end up that way.

She let out a curse when she spotted Damon and the _other one_. Why did he have to bring her along? Two of them together would certainly cause the world to end! While she wanted to slap Damon silly for what he had done, she couldn't help but follow Niklaus and Stefan to a warehouse. And there were coffins. It then dawned on her that this was the entire reason why she hadn't been able to find her beloved. He hadn't been able to return to her.

Once again, she felt an anger inside of her that she could barely contain. She had to; she wasn't there for herself, she was there for Stefan and when Niklaus pulled a dagger out of Rebekah's heart, she could feel her heart swell with hope. Her beloved wasn't dead! He could be revived just like Rebekah and everything was going to be alright, wasn't it?

Focus, she told herself. Stefan's important. You can wait for a bit longer.

Of course, as expected, things took a turn for the worse and eventually, Damon and Elena left Chicago. She told herself to stick close to Niklaus, Rebekah and Stefan, because they were close to her beloved. And Stefan was still in trouble. What was his play? What was he doing? Did he really have everything under control?

Midway July she gave up trailing Stefan. The constant moving around tired her out, she needed some rest. Some quiet. She needed her cabin. She knew that it wouldn't be long until her beloved would come back.

.-.-.-.-.

 **Mystic Falls, September 6th, 2010.**

Why were Niklaus and Rebekah so mean to everyone? Especially to Stefan and Damon? Fortunately everything was being contained in the school, so that no one could really get hurt, but why were they so mean? What happened to them?

She had watched _her_ , Katherine, like a hawk. She was up to something and the mention of Mikael wasn't very promising. They couldn't get to him. It would cause more strife and hurt, for everyone involved. No, this needed to be stopped.

First, by puncturing the tires on the car. Second, by running off to Carolina to the Mausoleum and wait for them there. She was going to snap _Katherine_ 's neck.

On her way to the mausoleum, she thought about how busy she'd been lately. Far too busy for her liking and far too _involved_ , too, but the boys were in danger. Now, if they'd stop being idiots and live life the normal way, she wouldn't have needed to come out of hiding and keep an eye out.

She'd only been looking after them because after so long, she had gotten bored waiting for her beloved to return. And now it was her sworn duty to make sure they didn't do stupid things, but they wouldn't listen to her. All she could do was to pull them out of harm's way, and even then, they didn't seem to be grateful. In any case, Mikael couldn't be allowed to be freed.

It had taken a powerful witch to subdue him. He was the hunter of vampires. He would kill them all, and especially his children. In particular Niklaus. And no one was going to touch Niklaus. Mikael was the monster that hid underneath everyone's beds, and _Katherine_ and Damon thought it would be a great idea to wake him up to kill Nik. And that wasn't going to happen.

She knew that her loyalty was skewed now. To preserve Niklaus or to end everyone's suffering. She was legitimately afraid of Mikael, so if she could stop him from rising, it would be the best thing she'd ever done.

But she was too late. The tomb was open and Katherine had found Mikael. Growling, she rushed in and snapped Katherine's neck before closing the coffin again and dragging the vampire's body out of the tomb. She barricaded the door and pushed her back into the car. And then she waited.

She must have dozed off, because the next thing she remembered was waking up from Katherine on the phone to Damon. And the tomb opened again. "And I've tried everything. Gravediggers, mourners, mice, rats, bats. He's just not interested."

She let out a sigh of relief, it was good that they didn't know that much about Mikael and that he only fed on vampires, but with it just being her and _her_ at the cemetery, one of them was surely going to end up as food if _she_ didn't stop poking the bear.

"Your little stinky friend snapped my neck. So I snapped hers. And she's coming to. She doesn't look very happy."

" _I don't care,"_ Damon's voice could be heard. " _I want Mikael to kill Klaus so I can start de-rippering Stefan and then everything will be rainbows and sunshine. Just don't kill her."_

"Fine. I'll keep trying."

" _Hurry."_

She let out a growl as she got to her feet and ran inside the mausoleum, using her speed to smack Katherine into a wall and quickly slamming the lid back on the coffin. "No!"

"Oh come on, you little imp," Katherine said defiantly as she got back on her feet and pushed her hair out of her face. "You want to fight? Let's fight."

She advanced on Katherine again, knocking her head against the wall before grabbing her by the hair and smacked her face into the concrete coffin. "No! He will not be raised!"

She was surprised by the strength of this vampire. Maybe there was more to her than they all initially had thought. But she had a feeling that it wasn't just Mikael she was fighting for, there was a sick hatred in her eyes towards Katherine as a vampire. Person. Or whatever. And this was interesting. She allowed her to get a few hits in before realizing that she hadn't tried one thing on Mikael yet; vampire blood.

Katherine hated this, but she was going to be self sacrificing and let this raging nutjob let off some steam. The first time she hit the coffin, she slid off the lid again. The second time, she was almost dangling above Mikael's face, her blood dripping on his face and she could have sworn she saw some movement underneath all that desiccation. The third time, she allowed herself to be smacked into a wall again, creating a bigger gash on her face than previously had been and bit her own wrist as she was flung into the coffin again. Blood was now pouring over him and his eyes shot open as he grabbed Katherine's wrist to drink. "Bingo," she grinned.

She wanted to smack herself. Inevitably, she had been the one who had raised Mikael and called upon hell on Earth. She didn't dare to move. If he'd see her, she'd be dead. She'd be so dead and then she couldn't meet her beloved again. No, this was bad. Very very bad.

She closed her eyes and covered her ears when she heard the chains break. She backed into a corner and sat down, making herself as small as possible so that he wouldn't be able to see her, but of course, he did.

"It can't be," Mikael said as he got out of the coffin and saw the trembling vampire in the corner of the tomb. She was so familiar, and yet, she was supposed to be dead. "Isa?"

Isa's head snapped up at hearing her name for the first time in so long and got to her feet. Slowly nodding, she made her way over to the very confused, and very drained Katherine only to hoist her over her shoulders and make a run for it. Mikael was raised.

And it was all her fault.

She ran as far as she could, but she was weakened, she wasn't as strong as vampires who fed on humans and in all honesty, she was getting tired. By the time she reached Myrtle Beach, Katherine had finally recuperated. She set the vampire down before snapping her neck and like a spear, threw her into the ocean. "You will thank me later, wench," Isa muttered as she took a quick dip in the ocean and swam North for as long as she could, creating as much distance between her and Katherine as she could, and diffusing her scent for Mikael.

He was a skilled hunter, an excellent tracker and Isa knew how he worked. She knew how vicious he could be, she had seen him work. She had seen the devastation he left after he killed half the village. The determination in his eyes to kill his children. To rid the world of all vampires. No, this was bad news.

She killed a few deers on the nearest gameland she could find. The bear was tasty and she used his insides to cover herself. Mikael wouldn't go after her if she smelled like a wild animal. Isa would smell like a bear and he'd ignore her. While Mikael was a force to be reckoned with, he was also quite dumb.

It wasn't until a couple of days later that she returned to Mystic Falls, and was glad to find out that she had missed the ghosts from appearing. No doubt there would be some ghosts of her past that would have liked to have a word with her!

She was torn between going to her cabin and going to the Salvatore brothers for help. No doubt Katherine would have woken up and would have clued them in on what was going on. Isa believed she owed Damon and Stefan an explanation.

Sighing, Isa made her way to the boarding house, looking over her shoulder wherever she went, and peeking around corners before going round them, to make sure she wasn't being followed. Instead of running inside the house, she politely knocked until someone opened the door.

Unfortunately it was Elena.

She pushed the girl away and ignored her protests as she walked inside the house. Isa took a seat on the expensive looking sofa and waited for the brothers to show their faces once Elena had come over her initial shock and started to protest. "You can't be here," Elena said as she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. "You can't be here. You're a lunatic."

Isa huffed as she stared into the fire. "Not more so than you are, in fact, I believe that compared to you, I am quite sane."

"I have to disagree."

"Then disagree, I'm not stopping you."

"Damon! Stefan!" Elena called out. "She's covered in blood and on your couch!"

"Ugh," Isa rubbed her temples, the girl's shrill voice giving her a headache. The bear had done her good, the cobwebs inside her mind were gone. Of course, she knew that it was only temporary, she never performed on a well filled stomach because it hadn't been necessary. But she had to do it now. She needed to be safe and have all the strength she could possess.

"It smells like bear," Stefan said as he walked into the living room and eyed the vampire on his couch. "You fought a bear?"

"Black, and it was delicious. Sorry I couldn't bring some back," she responded, bored as she glared at the girl.

"That uhm, that's impressive."

"Nah. Oh! You know what his name was?" Isa smiled widely as she looked at Stefan. "It was Jason. He told me."

Damon shook his head, scratching his neck at the confused look from his brother. "Don't ask. I stopped decades ago trying to figure that one out."

"A bear!" Stefan said in surprise.

"Well, given what Katherine told us, I'm not surprised," Damon said as he rounded the couch and sat down in front of the girl with a big smile on his face. "Hi, I'm Damon."

"I'm Isa."

"Pleasure to meet you and finally get your name," he said before putting his hands on her knees to stop her from moving. "Now tell me… why is it that Mikael knows your name?"

"He was friends with my father. Then something happened and he snapped. Killed half of my village," Isa said, hatred laced in every single word.

"That means…"

"That I'm older than you. Yes."

"You know the Originals."

"Is that what they call themselves? How preposterous," she huffed, crossing her arms and moved her foot between Damon's legs as he was still holding on to her. "But Mikael is raised. You got your wish. Now he will kill everyone you know and I hope he starts with her." Isa thumbed over her shoulder towards Elena.

Damon smirked. "I think it's story time, lady. Prove it."

"Fine," Isa sighed. "How do you want me to prove that I'm older than you and that I'm speaking the truth?"

"Tell us something about the Mikaelsons."

"How about I tell you about her?" She thumbed over her shoulder again. "Because she's not who she says she is. She might be 'Elena' to you, or even 'Katherine'... but she's not. They're not. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to duplicate herself!"

"Who do you think she is?" Stefan asked as he sat down next to Damon, ready to pounce on the older vampire when needed.

"That conniving, man eater of a wench called Tatia!" Isa exclaimed, beginning to get frustrated. "She has a thing for getting between brothers. She did it then, she did it when you two were still human and now she's doing it again!"

Stefan looked at Damon, confused. "Who's Tatia?"

Elena sucked in a breath. "Oh boy."

"Elena?" Damon turned his gaze to her and raised an eyebrow in question. "Is there something you like to share with the class?"

"Rebekah told me this story. It's true," she replied as she rounded the couch and sat down in a chair near the fire to keep an eye on the brothers and Isa. "Rebekah told me that her mother used Tatia's blood to create the Original vampires and later, used it to bind Klaus' werewolf side. Tatia was the Original Doppelganger. This is why Klaus needed me to break the curse and use my blood to create his hybrids."

"Well we know that, but we thought it was Katherine that-"

"What is a doppelganger?" Isa demanded before breaking Damon's hands to get them off of her and got up before starting to pace the room like a caged animal. "That's Tatia. With a different name."

"That hurt!" Damon let out as he looked at his crooked hands.

"It'll heal," Isa growled. "Consider it payback because you told Katherine to break my neck."

"There's no need for violence," Stefan said calmly. "Why are you so afraid of Mikael? I mean, I understand that he killed half your village but…"

"I don't want to die!" Isa exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Nor do I want Niklaus killed or any of his siblings! They're good people, they're simply misunderstood!"

Damon huffed. "That's what all psychopaths say."

She stopped pacing and faced him. "I've been looking out for you for nearly two hundred years, Damon Salvatore. You're good people, but you're misunderstood and yet, I look out for you. And I don't want you to die either, so what does that say about our relationship?"

"That you're nuts!"

She pulled him off the table and pushed him into a wall, her hand cupping his private parts. "Would you like me to feed these to you?" She squeezed, hard. "I have no problem with ripping them off and stuffing them into your mouth, like a dirty sock."

"You're still nuts!"

Isa growled as she managed to grab the biggest part she could find and snapped it in half, before dropping him to the floor.

"She broke my dick!" Damon said with a tiny voice. "Oh fuck, that hurts!"

"Language!" Isa shot at him and kneed him in his face.

"Okay, okay," Stefan said kindly as he moved himself between his brother - who he felt for at the moment - and the crazy vampire. "Calm down. Why do you care so much about what happens to the Originals?"

"That's my business, not yours." Isa spat, pushing Stefan into his brother and walked towards the stairs. "I'm tired. I'm going to take a bath and nap. If either of you tries to kill me, I will kill you first, and it won't be pretty."

.-.-.-.-.

 **Mystic Falls, September 15th, 2010**

She had to leave the house to feed. She'd been holed up on the Salvatore's first floor for days now and no one dared to come even close. They tried, especially asking after Mikael - again, she didn't think it was her story to tell, so she didn't. She was getting fed up with it and maybe it was time to return to her cabin. Surely, Mikael would have found Mystic Falls now, and its connection to Niklaus.

Isa didn't dare, she stuck to the shadows as she made her way through the woods. Passing her tree friends, she felt like home again. "Oh, I know, Jenny," she said as she caressed a trunk. "Times are sure changing, but don't be afraid. I won't let anything happen to them."

She turned around to face Quentin and smiled at him. "Yes, you'll continue to grow, even when I'm gone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find some game."

She skidded to a halt as she heard the whisper of Geezer the elm tree. "Thanks! I could use a big meal!" She high-fived a branch and spat off in the direction the tree had told her. There, by the edge of the water, she saw a magnificent stag and he was glorious. His name was James, but he didn't like to be called that way. Jimmy, maybe.

Mikael couldn't believe his eyes. It truly was Isa, the village girl that he had liked for one of his sons. She hadn't changed, much, her heart was still as big and open to anything and anyone, but she hadn't experienced time that well. It appeared that she had lost her mind and he was contemplating whether or not it was a mercy killing if he'd feed on her. But she looked so happy, so content, between her trees and her animals, and he simply didn't have the heart to make her his next meal.

Yes, he was well aware that over the years he had grown bitter, more angrier, towards his children, but that didn't mean that he'd have to kill every single vampire in existence. He simply needed to end his children. End their suffering. End their torment that they plagued upon the world. Especially Niklaus. The bastard son.

He had often imagined what life would have been like if his wife had been faithful to him and if they hadn't been under constant threat of the werewolves. If everything had stayed the same. Likely, Isa would have given him many grandchildren and he would take joy in teaching them to fight while his son had the status of a healer. His son had truly been gifted in the world of magic, much like his mother. Perhaps even more so because he dared to experiment.

If life would have stayed the way it had been, all of them would have died by now and would have been at peace. For Mikael, the only way he was going to have peace now was to end his children. And deep down, even when it came to Niklaus, it sickened him.

He watched as Isa got close to the stag, the stag not feeling threatened by the tiny vampire at all. She caressed his neck and body before hugging him tightly and drinking its blood without a fight. She sure was something.

Mikael knew that the best chance of finding his son was through Stefan Salvatore. They had encountered each other before, in the 1920's in Chicago, and Stefan and his son had been the best of friends. If anyone knew how to reach him, it would be him. He was surprised to find Isa's scent all over the building, almost as if she enveloped it with her being, her protection, and he fought the smile that was on his face. Isa had always been the good one. It was a shame that for some reason, she became immortal like himself. Like his children.

"Mikael." Stefan greeted him at the door, and stepped aside to let him in.

"Stefan, so good to see you again," he countered and walked in. He was greeted by the other Salvatore brother and Elena Gilbert, the doppelganger he had tried to kill in the 1990's. Or find her, at least. "Elena." He took in a deep breath. "Isa's been here, hasn't she?"

"Yes," Stefan said slowly.

"And the girl's still breathing. That is impressive." Mikael said as he cocked his head and looked at Elena. "That must have required a lot of self-restraint on her part."

"She was quite special, alright," Damon said, rubbing his hands as he could still feel her break them. Not to mention his dick that took its time to heal. "So, you're the father of the Originals, and she's… what?"

Mikael was slightly amused. "She didn't tell you?"

"Tell us what?"

"Her father and I were in the final stages of arranging a marriage between her and one of my sons."

Damon, Stefan and Elena all looked at each other, unnerved by the new information.

"Oh, not to worry, it wasn't Niklaus so I can still kill him," he said cheerfully. "Now, on with the plan."

A couple of hours later, Rebekah arrived at the house. She didn't care much for Mikael, he was merely a means to an end, but she was glad that she wasn't the one being haunted. It hadn't been the first time she'd called him to take care of her brother, and for some reason the weasel always managed to escape death. Hopefully, this time it would work.

When she got filled in about another ancient vampire lingering around, she couldn't believe her ears. "Isa's around?" She was confused, because to her knowledge, they didn't learn that they could turn people for at least a hundred years after they were turned. What had her brother done? Did he even know that this happened? It wasn't likely, otherwise he would have gone for her immediately after Klaus undaggered him the last time.

Rebekah was also scared, because her father had liked Isa very much. Much like a daughter, and one that was as good as betrothed to her brother. She'd always been jealous of his feelings towards Isa, because she seemed perfect in every way. She was also scared, because it could mean that after Niklaus' demise, her father would still end up killing her, but she'd have to take his word for it that he wouldn't.

Elena hadn't liked it, but she had to do it, otherwise there was a great possibility for Rebekah to screw things up for them. She could switch sides like a drop of a hat and that wasn't good. Klaus needed to die, and no one was going to stop them. Not even Rebekah. She watched as the body lay on the floor in front of her and sighed. "Well, now it's official; I'm a backstabbing bitch."

.-.-.-.-.

Isa had compelled some guy to have the owner of the house invite her in. She needed to stop Damon and Stefan from fighting each other. Stefan was under compulsion and everything was messy. The brothers might even end up killing each other, and that was something she didn't want to happen. If it meant to face her fears when it came to Mikael, then she would.

She was not only at the party to protect the brothers, but also to protect Niklaus. And in a way, the brothers again. She had stolen a dress out of some lady's closet after compelling her to let her inside her house and had cleaned up nicely. The stag blood was still warming her veins, fuelling her need to complete this task, even if it meant that she had to deal with a huge amount of people. She'd have to stay focused and on target. She could do that.

No. She couldn't.

The moment she set foot in the mansion, she was overwhelmed by the different types of smells and all the different voices. It took her a good fifteen minutes hiding in a corner to block them all out and zero in on her targets. The first thing she did was to take out Stefan by snapping his neck and stuffing him into a cupboard under the stairs.

She wouldn't have long until he'd come to, but at least he was out of the way. Damon was next. It was easy to take him out, and she put him down on the couch, almost as if was asleep. She caressed the hair out of his face and then heard the noise at the door. Mikael taunting Niklaus. Calling him _boy._

Shivers ran down her spine as she recalled the many times Mikael had abused Niklaus, using the same tone of voice as he did now. Come to think of it, Mikael had always frightened her, and her plan was to take her beloved as far away as possible once they had wed, if only for him to be out of harm's way. Mikael's wrath had always mostly focused on Niklaus, even before the big secret came out, that Nik hadn't been Mikael's son, but the other brothers were bullied as well.

Then again, it had been tough times, and maybe Mikael only wanted to be sure that his sons would grow strong. He also had his soft side; Isa remembered that Mikael liked her. Truly liked her and appreciated her for what she was doing for his son. She once got smacked by him for taking his son away from him for a long stretch of time, and that had been well deserved, but still it hurt.

Mikael needed to die.

She peeked around the corner and saw Elena on the floor, but it wasn't Elena, she could smell that it was Katherine, no matter how much she tried to mask it. If she had to be honest, that had been a brilliant move, because from what she could tell, neither Nik or Mikael were able to distinguish between the two. Isa still thought they were Tatia's duplicates and that deep down, they were still Tatia, but it was interesting.

When the stakes were out, she knew she had to be quick and time it right. Nik was near tears and all she wanted to do was to hug him and tell him that everything was alright. She flashed towards him and took the stake that was on the floor before throwing it straight into Mikael, who burst into flames.

"You conniving little bitch!" Katherine cried out as she got to her feet and quickly threw two vervain grenades at the hybrids behind her. "You bitch! I'm going to kill you!"

"Please," Isa huffed as she looked at Niklaus, who looked at her in shock. She smiled at him and gently pat his cheek. "Enjoy your freedom, Nik."

"I know you," he managed to say.

"And I know you," she hugged him and gently pat his back. "It's going to be alright."

With Katherine watching at the front door, she quickly made her way out of the house through the back and headed straight for her cabin. This had been too much excitement for the day, but the brothers were safe, and so was Niklaus. All in all, she did her job. And she did it right.

.-.-.-.-.

Isa decided to stay away from Mystic Falls since there was no immediate danger to anyone. Perhaps there was, to Stefan, as he was currently hiding the coffins of the Mikaelsons somewhere. And she wanted to know where. He was holding her beloved hostage, and that wasn't right. She didn't care that Nik had been holding him in a state of dessication for God knows how long, because he'd been with his brother. But now he was in the hands of a revenge fuelled Stefan.

She had conferred with the trees, and they had unanimously told her not to pursue this. That things would work out in the end and she hoped they were right. Her heart ached for her beloved. He was so close, yet so far away.

In October, she finally dared to have a peek in Mystic Falls, to see what was going on. Not liking what she saw, she retreated back to her cabin and she was determined to stay there all winter. Enough was enough. Her hope had shattered into a thousand pieces, because now that Klaus had the coffins back, everyone was still in them. Except Elijah. Noble Elijah. Now there was no way that her beloved was going to be resurrected, Elijah never had taken a liking to him. It had always been him, Nik and Rebekah. Always and Forever.

.-.-.-.-.

While it was interesting to figure out who, exactly, had pulled the dagger out of him, he had more pressing matters to deal with. He had given his brother a beating for his betrayal and once he learned about Mikael's death and Stefan Salvatore's actions against their family, he knew that he had his work cut out for him. It seemed like he was always cleaning up his family's messes, and he didn't mind doing so.

Once he and Niklaus had convinced Stefan to have dinner with them, they civilly seated themselves at the dining table in uneasy silence. That was, until his brother broke the ice.

"Brother, I don't believe I've already mentioned that I've come across someone quite interesting."

"Spare me the stories of your conquests, brother," Elijah said, humor evident in his voice. "We all know you have a healthy appetite."

"Please. Our brother would have my hide if I'd tried anything with this person."

"Wait, are you talking about Isa?" Damon piped up. "I thought she was engaged to you, Elijah."

"Isa?" Elijah blinked at Damon before looking at his brother. "Is this true?"

Klaus took a sip of his bourbon. "I told you Mikael was dead. Isa killed him."

"Isa killed… how? Why? How?" He didn't believe this. If Isa was still alive, that would have meant that she was turned around the time that they had been, which was ridiculous. "We didn't learn that our blood could turn other people into vampires until…"

"I know, so this is quite interesting," he smirked. "Would our brother know what he's done?"

"Hardly, otherwise he would have come for her, go on a quest to find her before you daggered him," Elijah replied as he started to cut his meat. "He was quite infatuated with her." He then looked at Stefan and Damon. "You're acquainted with her?"

"More or less," Damon replied, his hand instinctively moving towards his groin area. "She's nuts. She's worse than nuts. She's certifiable."

"Has Elena met her?"

At the mention of Elena, Stefan visibly cringed. Damon grinned as he pointed at his brother. "Best not to mention Elena even further, love on the rocks and all, but yes. And she's still alive. Mikael thought that was quite the accomplishment."

"Oh, the allure of the Petrova doppelganger," Klaus mused. "Shall we tell them about Tatia, brother?"

"There's that name again." Damon poked his brother and pointed at Klaus. "Out of the mouth of babes. So it is true, the little nymph is as old as it gets."

"Happy now?" Stefan shot at his brother. "We already knew this."

"Isa told us that Tatia had a habit of becoming between brothers," Damon said, all giddy with new information to play with. He liked to antagonize his brother, and the woman was obviously a sore spot for the Mikaelsons, so this was going to be fun. "She called Elena names, even Katherine, but I believe they duked it out above Mikael's coffin."

"Tatia was an exquisite beauty," Elijah explained, ignoring the three scowls at the table. "Every boy of age wanted to be her suitor, despite having a child by another man. Niklaus was infatuated by her."

"You sound like you were too," Damon pointed out. "No offense. And should we be worried about you coming on to Elena?"

"No," Elijah smiled. "I assure you, I have no interest in Ms. Gilbert."

"Wait a minute," Stefan spoke up. "You both loved the same girl?"

"Isa was correct in mentioning that Tatia knew her way around men, and how to wrap them around her fingers," he replied, taking a sip of his drink. "Our mother used Tatia's blood to bind the curse that created us and Niklaus and I were quite harsh towards each other for quite some time as Tatia didn't wish to choose between us. But we worked our way through, because it's family above all."

"Always and Forever," Klaus said with a nod.

As the evening moved along, Elijah realized that the proposal was fair. In return for the coffin, the Original family would move out of Mystic Falls and never return. Thus, leaving Elena Gilbert. Niklaus wasn't having any of it. Why would he want to leave behind the one person who could help him create more hybrids?

Things came to a blow, of course, and now he was on fetching duty with Damon. "You know, Isa's been waiting for her beloved for a very long time," Damon said to start a conversation with Elijah as they were biding their time a few blocks away as part of their plan. Damon had removed the dagger out of Elijah earlier and left a note that they should talk. It was the only thing he could have done, because Stefan needed saving. Stefan was no fun like this. Damon preferred him on animal blood and not on a very messy revenge kick.

"That's ridiculous. She should have moved on by now."

"Love can make you do crazy things. Like talking to trees."

"Counting every brick in New Orleans in your case, isn't it?" Elijah countered with an amused smile on his lips. "We've come across your… leftover in the past."

"She's still alive?"

"Perhaps. I can't be certain as I haven't returned to New Orleans for a very long time."

"That would be nuts."

"Just as talking to trees indeed," he countered. "My brother and Isa were being set up to get wed, but unlike most arranged marriages, they truly loved each other. They complimented each other's madness and lifted each other up. Their relationship made them different. It was almost as if two halves had become whole. Only time was their enemy; Mikael and Isa's father had yet to come to an agreement for her dowery."

"So why are you and Klaus so freaked out by her?"

"She's an unknown element. We believed we knew the origin of every sire line. It appears that we have been wrong about my brother's for a very long time. She's older than Niklaus' first sire."

"So who's the brother?"

"Ah, that would be telling," Elijah said amused. "I am certain that once Niklaus will remove the daggers from the remaining members of our family, he'd want to look for her in peace."

"Do you Mikaelsons do anything in peace?"

"Of course. Granted, Isa's beloved was nicknamed a happy homicidal maniac by Niklaus. He and Niklaus slaughtered an entire tenement building in New Orleans for sport, so I am not certain he-"

"Yeah, you know what? Before you remove the dagger, just make sure that Isa's there so he doesn't have to go looking for her. Before he kills half of Mystic Falls," Damon said quickly, already fearing for the safety of most of his friendly humans.

"Does she want to be found?"

"Probably not, but she made a mistake."

"Which is?"

"She showed me her cabin," Damon smiled widely and turned around go back to the house for the second part of their plan. This was going to be glorious. "Hold on." Damon stopped in his tracks. "If we're really doing this, we should get her now."

"Or," Elijah mused. "No doubt Niklaus would want to organize a ball in our honor. How about we ensure that the official reunion of the Mikaelson family becomes even more magical? You could bring Isa as a date."

"Ew."

"Please, as a surprise for my brother. I assure you, tonight is going to be a night for family only. We all have our grievances with Niklaus and Isa would only get in the way."

"No. Not me, absolutely not. The bitch broke my dick. After it healed, I wasn't able to jack off for a week. I had actually started to doubt if I could ever be able to sport wood again!"

"Would you rather leave someone as… _delicate_ as dear Isa in Stefan's hands?"

"She'd kill him."

"Exactly."

"Fine. But you'll owe me one."

"Of course," Elijah said with a knowing smile. He couldn't wait to one up his brother. Who ever said that he was the dull one, had to think again. Elijah was able to be mischievous, just like his brothers.

.-.-.-.-.

 _ **Mystic Falls, 1001**_

" _That was quite messy," Kol smirked as he lay in the grass, watching the sky as he held the hand of his beloved. She was the most beautiful creature that has ever graced the Earth, even more beautiful than his sister Rebekah, or that harlot Tatia._

" _You wished to see if bigger cuts made all the difference with your spell, and it did," she simply stated, sighing happily because of the high she was currently experiencing. "More blood, more strength, more colours."_

" _It's still messy."_

" _Then try something without blood, why do you men always have to see so much blood?" She rolled onto her stomach and poked him in his chest with her bandaged hand. "Speaking of blood," she continued with a smile as she kept poking him. "I overheard Ayana asking Tatia for her blood. You should have seen the look on Tatia's face, the look of sheer horror!"_

" _The bloody wench deserves it."_

" _Watch your language," Isa giggled as she put her hand over his mouth. "The Gods do not appreciate such a tongue."_

 _Smirking, he playfully bit her hand so she'd remove it from his mouth. "Dearest, you and I are meddling with forces of Nature, do your Gods approve of those?"_

" _No."_

" _Then I believe it is time for you to worship a different deity," he kissed the top of her head and looked back up to the sky. "Hurry, the spell is fading."_

 _With a sigh, Isa fell back on her back and watched as the colours faded slowly, revealing yet again the sun in its full glory. "Do it again."_

" _No. Mother would not approve. Neither would Father. He believes I should be a warrior, like him, so I can provide for my future wife," he sighed and squeezed her hand as he kept looking up, the sun now blinding him. "Perhaps he is right."_

 _Isa huffed as she shielded her eyes with her hand. "I'll be the warrior and provide for us while you practise your magic and become the healer of our village."_

" _Or perhaps I should become a warrior and a healer."_

" _No. I would not appreciate to see your handsome features hurt by violence," she rolled onto her side again and idly traced his jawline with her finger. "Should we be wed, then I shall provide for us."_

 _Kol laughed heartily and pulled her in for a kiss. They often sneaked away from the village together to practise his magic. Isa wasn't magical, she tried the best that she could, but there was no ounce of magic inside of her. She was a phenomenal cook, he would be well fed should their fathers decide that it was time for them to get wed. Their children would grow up strong and healthy because of her ways of preparing a great meal._

 _He'd always longed for more, he wanted more than to simply kiss her. Why wait until their wedding night? They already knew that they were going to be together until the day that they died. His Isa with her beautiful brown hair, always braided so nicely. His princess. He had begged his Father to press on with the wedding, but he was simply not allowed to wed before any of his older brothers did and he thought it wasn't fair._

.-.-.-.-.

"You clean up nice," Damon said to Isa as he watched her in the dress that Elijah had bought her. She had done her hair up and she actually looked presentable.

"I still don't understand why you insisted on me going with you to this… ball," she replied as she wrinkled his nose. "You made me feed on animals again to be able to deal with people."

"I didn't want to be lonely," Damon explained. "And don't make me feel sorry for you. You broke my dick."

"Language," she muttered as she straightened the dress. "Fine, but I'm not going to wear those shoes."

"Yes, you are going to wear those shoes because it's a formal ball."

"Would you like me to formally unman you again?"

"Fine, whatever," Damon threw his hands up in defeat. "Enough admiring yourself in the mirror. Let's go, we don't want to be late." He grabbed her arm and started to pull her along. He had been careful as not to mention the Mikaelsons, nor the fact that everyone was out of the box. This was going to be a surprise to her, and to her beloved, whomever he might be. He figured it would be Finn. Kol didn't look the sort to like nice girls.

In all honesty, she had been starving herself. She didn't want to live anymore. Not without her Kol. The mere thought of him hurt and not even the trees could console her. She had done her duty in protecting the Salvatore brothers and she had saved Niklaus from a certain death and now she was done. When Damon asked her to come with him to some ball, she reluctantly said yes, even though it meant that she had to feed again.

Maybe, after the ball was over, she was going to ask him to kill her. Yes. That was a much quicker way than to starve herself. Complete destruction. Her candle had fizzled out, it was just that the reality still had to catch up with her.

The plan was to stick close to Damon and not make a fool out of herself. No dancing. No drinking, because too much alcohol meant she'd make a fool out of herself. Stick to what she knew and maybe slink out the back door when Damon wasn't looking. The plan was perfect.

The plan was perfect right until she noticed that it was Niklaus who greeted them at the door and she smacked Damon on the cheek. "You told me we were going to a ball!"

"We are!"

"No!"

"Yes!" Damon firmly grabbed her arm and struggled to pull her forward towards Klaus. "Hey, Klaus. Look who I brought."

"No, no no no no," Isa begged Damon as she tried to stop him from pulling her in even further. "No, I can't… no… please. It hurts." It hurt that Niklaus was walking around freely with Elijah and Rebekah. It hurt that she hadn't seen her beloved in so long and she wasn't going to. And now Damon had taken her to a ball orchestrated by Niklaus and it hurt. It hurt. "No. Let go of me."

"Isa." Damon grabbed her other arm and made her face him. "Trust me."

She snapped then. She pushed Damon into Niklaus and bolted. The dress made it hard for her to run, but she was going to. She was going to run until she couldn't anymore and then die. It was one thing to long for someone who'd never return, it was treason to take her to the one place she'd rather not be.

Damon was chasing her, but even with the dress, she was faster. She had hundreds of years on him and if he'd come any closer, she'd kill him. She ran inside a church and gasped. It was packed with a lot of people for some sort of service and she was shocked. She had thought it would be empty, that it would be a good hiding spot - churches were never a good hiding spot because vampires could enter it.

When the father, the priest or pastor or whatever he was approached her, she felt her true face bleed out and lunged at him, ripping out his throat in front of his congregation. She caught them all as they tried to flee, the adrenaline rushing through her veins, the rush of human blood was intoxicating and she was able to forget what had happened only moments before.

Both Damon and Elijah stood in the doorway with their mouths open once they had caught up with Isa. Kol was on his way, but he'd snuck off to do his own thing. "This is not my fault." Damon stated as he watched his woodnymph slaughter every single person in the church. He ducked when intestines were flung his way. "For once, this isn't my fault. This is all on you."

"I had not expected this to happen," Elijah muttered. "Isa was always such an easy going girl."

"What part of breaking my dick didn't you understand, Mr. Original Vampire?" Damon shot at him. "Go stop her!"

Elijah caught the expression in Isa's eyes and shook his head. "I don't believe I'll be able to help her at this moment. It appears that she's going through some sort of mental breakdown and even I won't be able to reach her."

"Peachy. Just peachy," Damon pushed the human running towards him away, back into the mess that was piling up in the middle of the church. At least she was nice and stacked the bodies.

"She's survived on animal blood only for the last thousand years. No doubt every synapse in her brain is firing off impulses at random."

"More like misfiring," Damon muttered as he was pushed aside by Kol who had a dumbstruck look on his face. "Not my fault!" Damon insisted, not wanting to face the wrath of an Original. "This is all on your brother."

"I couldn't believe it when Nik said… what… how?" Kol looked at his brother. "Why didn't I know she was still around? Who turned her?"

"We believe you did, brother," Elijah calmly explained. "Tell me, did you part with your blood with her as you usually did when you went away?"

"Oh crap," Kol gasped. "Yes. Oh. Oh man."

"So in you go, Casanova," Damon said, giving Kol a slight push. "Calm her down."

Kol growled and grabbed Damon's arm, only to break it before calmly walking into the church. Isa was almost done devouring the humans and she wasn't even bothering anymore. "You are such a gluttonous pig, nothing has changed, has it?"

Isa rose then, her dress ruined with blood, blood was all over her body and on her face. There were tiny bits of brain matter lodged in her hair and she was a right mess. She slapped Kol across the face, hard. "How dare you!" She breezed before she started to punch him in the chest, the hits coming with rapid succession. "You told me to stay here and wait for you and I've waited for a thousand years! You never came!" She screeched as the blood on her face was now mixing in with the tears. "It hurt so much! Every time I thought of you or every time I saw your brother, it hurt! My heart ached for you and you never… you never came!"

"It's not as if I knew you'd still be around!"

"I had so much hope in the first hundred years. Surely you'd come back for me. Surely you'd have noticed that I had gone through the change. Ayana told me you'd left for the Old World and I didn't believe her but you did, didn't you? You went off galavanting and traveling the world!"

"We were running away!"

"And you left me!" She pushed him hard, flinging him across the church. He ended up smacking his head against the feet of the Jesus figure at the cross. "I stayed behind like you told me to, even after I didn't have to anymore when I died and came back, because you said you'd be back! I made sure that our village rebuilt. I made sure that everything would be perfect for the time you'd come back. I never looked for another lover because you're all I wanted!"

"Yeah well, what about me? Have you ever stopped and wondered what happened to me? My brother daggered me for decades on end! Niklaus took over the bully role and it wasn't pretty! We were on the run, Isa. Not having fun!"

She roared as she hit him hard. "The trees told me about your adventures in New Orleans. How was that not fun? And what about your other travels? Sure, I received word many years after you'd been somewhere, but you went and had fun! Without me! Spain! France! Africa!"

"Stop hitting me," he growled as he finally managed to grab her hands and held them tightly. "Trees? Seriously? You're talking to trees?"

She kicked his shins and then kneed him in the groin.

"Oh, watch the nuts. Watch the nuts," Damon said encouragingly. "Trust me. Watch them."

"At least they never left me! Ezekiel was hurt when Damon kicked him across the forest months ago, but he's doing better now. He even gets little branches now and I think they'll bloom in spring."

Kol looked at Damon and raised his eyebrow. "You kicked Ezekiel, huh?"

"Eh," Damon shrugged. "Your girl is a little bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs."

"I know, I love that cereal, why do you think I wanted her in the first place?"

"Dude, they weren't even around in your time!"

"I invented it!" Kol smirked as he looked at Isa. She had significantly calmed down, but was still trying to hurt him. "Darling, you can't hurt me."

Her head snapped up then, her eyes meeting his and she punched a hole in his chest, holding his heart between her delicate fingers.

"Ow. Yes. Souped up on humans. I get it. You can let go now." He held up his hand to his brother to stay away, Kol had everything under control. Or so he hoped. "Isa, look at me."

She squeezed his heart in an attempt to make it hurt as much as her heart had hurt over the years as she looked up to him.

"Let go of me, darling," he said as he compelled her. "You've made your point. I understand. Everything's okay now and we will catch up in a civil matter. You don't have to hurt me to let me know that I've hurt you."

She looked at him for a moment, before releasing his heart and pulling her hand back. She wiped it on her dress and nodded. "I'm still cross."

"I understand, but we have a ball to get back to. I am certain Mother would love to see your beautiful face again," he moved his face closer to hers and softly kissed her lips. "I truly have missed you."

"Don't ever leave me again."

"I promise."

"So does this mean that I don't have to make sure that she stays out of trouble? I can leave her in your capable hands?" Damon quipped as Isa and Kol made their way towards them.

"Excuse you," Isa said as she looped her arm through Kol's. "Who's keeping who out of trouble? I mean, without me, you and Stefan would have killed each other by now or gotten killed by Nik or even by Mikael. Who, by the way, I killed."

"Yeah, only because you snapped my neck!"

"You and Stefan would only ruin it," she replied simply before looking up at Kol. "I do hope Rebekah has a spare dress for me to wear, I highly doubt your mother would approve of us arriving at her ball like this."

"Of course, whatever you want, my love," he kissed the top of her head.

"I want intercourse," she said plainly as they walked into the street. "And not like our first time together. I want you to pay attention to my attributes and make me feel wanted."

"Of course."

Elijah blinked. He wanted to stay close to his unstable brother and his even more unstable lover, but he didn't want to hear of his brother's exploits. He did feel for Isa though, if she only had sex once in a thousand years, she must feel ready to explode by now.

Kol lead Isa back inside the house through the back as not to alert everyone to their current state, and Elijah headed straight for the drinks bar. He needed something stronger than champagne, and he was joined by Damon.

"How did the reunion go?" Klaus asked his brother as he, too, went for something strong. "Did the lovebirds kiss and makeup?"

Elijah threw back his glass and had a refill before he spoke. "If you have an arsonist on speed dial, Niklaus, I suggest you call them right to set fire to the church."

"Unbelievable. We let him out to reunite with his long lost love and he eats a church?"

"No," he downed the glass. "Isa did."

"Isa? Sweet, caring and loving Isa?"

"Oh yeah," Damon piped up. "She snapped and she snapped good."

"I thought she was on an animal diet."

"The obvious word being _was_ ," Elijah said as he had his glass refilled again. "Now, if you would excuse me, I need to get sufficiently drunk to forget that I overheard what I have in the last five minutes."

"Oh, do tell, brother," Klaus said with a big grin on his face.

"I'd rather not."

.-.-.-.-.

 **Vienna, Austria, December 25th, 2012**

Kol was still asleep, but Isa had been awake for a few hours now, watching the sun rise over the mountains, how the sun moved across the snow with a pretty light show. After all the drama in Mystic Falls with the Vampire Hunter, which almost got Kol killed - and he would have been killed if it wasn't for Isa. Then there was Silas the immortal - which she and Kol were fighting hard against but their protests had fallen onto deaf ears with serious ramifications, she and him decided that they were going to leave Mystic Falls and explore the world.

She had never been outside the United States before, and she was having a blast. She believed Kol was too, at least by staying away from Niklaus ensured his safety, that he wouldn't be put back in the coffin again. They went back, on occasion, but never stayed for too long as there was always something new to explore, mayhem to create. Blood to be shared.

While Kol was no longer a witch, as he was a vampire, they still liked to play with blood. Preferably their own, but playing with their victims was great too. Just last night, they had painted 'Kol loves Isa' in the groundskeeper's blood in the snow, but so much more had fallen during the night that it was invisible. But the knowledge that it was there, meant so much to her.

Their cabin was isolated and they were surrounded by walls of snow. Layer upon layer and while she should feel suffocated as there was no place to go unless they put some effort into it, she felt safe and content. Her love was sprawled out across the bed, completely naked, as the fireplace heated their room.

She wanted to give him some more moments of sleep, but she simply couldn't help herself and pulled herself away from the window. Isa quietly crawled onto the bed and gently took hold of his cock before placing a gentle kiss on its head. Kol quietly moaned, which gave her a good reason to start sucking and squeezing. She was going to make sure that this was a Christmas they both weren't going to forget.

Isa kept her eyes on Kol's features as she paid attention to his length and she realized that she hadn't been this happy for a very long time. Of course, her past hurt not forgotten, but he did absolutely everything in his power to make up for it, and it was like old times. As if no time had passed at all. Their in-jokes were still in play, their combined craziness still that and she had rediscovered her love for cooking. When not feeding on humans, she was cooking him a meal. Their apartment in Los Angeles had an entire room dedicated to books, and at the moment most of the books were cookbooks.

Yes, they were vampires, that didn't mean that they had to run around being uncultured.

She noticed that Kol was nearly there, his breathing had become shallow and his eyes were actually now fixated on hers and she let out a hum of approval before she worked him harder and he came in her mouth.

"Merry fucking Christmas, my love," he breathed once he had found coherency again. Kol pulled her up to him and kissed her, hard, tasting himself on her lips. He used the distraction to get something from underneath the pillow and broke off the kiss as he looked at her. "Would you please marry me?"

*The End*


	2. Little Mouse

**A/N: I couldn't leave this story alone. While this is also a one shot, I didn't feel like posting it separately. Part 3 is also already in the works and part 4 planned. Happy turkey day!**

* * *

 _ **Mystic Falls, Autumn 1001**_

 _She hadn't seen him in a while and when she thought about it, neither had she seen the rest of his siblings for a couple of weeks. Isa had heard whispers that Esther had upset nature, somehow, but Isa couldn't find someone who could tell her outright. The last time she had seen Kol was when the White Oak Tree caught fire. While they were losing a significant amount of shelter from the sun now that it was burning, Isa had fallen ill, passed out right in Kol's arms. Her father had told him to bring her home and tuck her into bed._

 _She had seen Mikael, but only briefly as he came to collect her father to go over to the other village, the wolf men, and Mikael looked furious. Father told her to stay inside and she refused, wanting to come with, do something, but going up against her father and Mikael? While her father tried to stop her from coming in a gentle manner, Mikael was furious and smacked her. Told her that she was silly and that she should stay inside for her own safety._

 _When he wasn't back by nightfall, Isa went over to the Mikaelsons. She had never spend these many days without Kol. And he would always tell her that he'd be gone for a few days. They'd swap their blood to be together on the inside. A promise to each other to return that portion of blood when he came back._

 _She could hear whimpering and angry screams from outside their home and she peeked through the window to see Esther consoling Niklaus and Rebekah curled up on the floor with Kol. Elijah was sitting somewhat calm at the table and Finn was nowhere to be seen. Isa realised that maybe she could help and wanted to walk around to the door, but was stopped by Finn._

" _Isa Karlsdotter," he said gently, but Isa didn't trust him. Of all the Mikaelsons, she truly didn't like Finn. He was too sneaky for her taste. A real mother's child, too. "Now is not a good time for a visit. We are not well."_

" _I can help," she said, wanting to push past him, but he pushed her against the wall and then his face changed. Before she knew it, he was biting her neck and she let out a scream. Finn was gone then, and Kol had protectively wrapped his arm around her while he pressed a cloth against her bleeding neck._

" _She's off-limits!" Kol shot at his brother. "How dare you!"_

" _I can't fight it, Kol!" Finn countered, looking slightly confused about the amount of control his younger brother exhibited. "Smell her blood, it's glorious, don't you want to have a taste?"_

" _I already know what her blood tastes like, Finn, and you're not having any more of it!" He lifted Isa up and brought her back to her home, gently setting her down in front of the door. "Are you mad?"_

" _Mad?" Isa managed to say as she looked up to him. She took the cloth from him and hit him with it. "Mad! Ha! Perhaps, but I wouldn't have to be mad if you would have told me what you were doing. What's going on, Kol? What was it with Finn's face? Why did he bite me!"_

 _Kol was quiet for a moment, thrown off by how calm Isa seemed to be. "You're not frightened?"_

" _Answer me." She tried to ignore the whispers around her that were reminding her yet again about upsetting the balance of nature. Isa still couldn't figure out where they came from; maybe it was all in her head and maybe she was slightly mad. Of course, she wouldn't tell that to her husband-to-be. He would reject her immediately._

 _He let out a breath as he looked at her, her eyes were burning with fire, determination set on her face. "We're all experiencing unwanted effects due to Mother's protection spell."_

" _Protection spell?"_

" _Against the men changing into wolves, she doesn't want what happened to Henrik happen to us."_

 _It had been a sad day when Niklaus brought back the body of the youngest member of the family. Henrik had been a lovely young boy and liked to make people laugh. She could understand that a mother wished to protect her children, even though she couldn't remember her own mother. It had been Isa and her father Karl for as long as she could remember. "Those villagers… found in the woods the other day?"_

 _Kol nodded. "That was Niklaus' doing. If you look closely, other villagers are missing as well."_

" _Did you?"_

 _She watched as panic struck his face. "I tried not to, Isa. I really tried not to-"_

 _Shushing him, she placed her hand on his cheek and smiled at him. "I understand. It is alright."_

" _We might have to leave soon, surely our neighbors will start to notice that we're behaving differently, that there are villagers missing. We cannot stay here," he kissed the top of her head. "And I am sorry, Isa, but I can't guarantee your safety around my siblings. Finn was right, your blood smells delicious and it takes every fibre of my being not to finish what he has started."_

" _I can take care of myself! You have to bring me along!"_

" _I will return for you, I promise," Kol smiled at her and pushed her hair out of her face. "I shall let you know when we leave, is that alright?"_

" _Will you stay with me tonight? Your father came for mine, said they were going hunting, but he's not back yet and I don't want to be alone."_

" _What part of 'I want to eat you' don't you understand, my beautiful Isa?" Kol whispered as he pressed his forehead against hers. "I shall see you tomorrow. If you need anything, just shout and I will be right by your side." He took his knife off his belt and cut his hand before handing the knife to Isa, who did the same._

 _Smiling, she held up her hand for him to drink from and took his hand to do the same. She could feel how his face changed against her skin, and he pulled away, quickly._

" _Go inside your house, clean yourself up and we can talk some more tomorrow."_

 _~o.O.o~_

 _When she awoke the following morning, the cut on her hand was gone, and upon closer inspection, so was the wound in her neck. Eager to go to Kol to tell him all about it, she climbed out of bed and made herself presentable. She took a roll off the counter and the headed for the door, only once opened, to take a step back as she looked at the bloodied Mikael in front of her._

" _Mikael," she said breathlessly. "Have you returned from the hunt?" He didn't look too happy. He looked angrier than ever, there was a malicious look in his eyes that she didn't trust. It was as if he had lost his mind. "Will my father come soon?" Isa asked as she peeked around the door to see if her father was behind._

" _Isa, I am sorry, I truly am sorry," he spoke softly, although she could tell there wasn't any apologetic emotion behind his words. "Your father didn't make it."_

 _She looked at him and blinked. Sure, a lot of men didn't return from the hunt but her father was excellent at what he did, his skills rivalling those of Mikael's. She couldn't believe that her father was gone. What was she going to do now?_

" _And unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I can not allow you to marry my son, either."_

 _Her head snapped up at that as tears ran down her cheeks. "You can't deny us anything!"_

" _Foolish girl," Mikael spat at her. "I am trying to protect you. There's no longer a place for you in my family."_

" _Lies!"_

" _I understand you're grieving right now," he said as he took a step back. "My apologies, Isa."_

" _No!" She cried out as she reached for the broom and started to hit Mikael with it. "What am I going to do now? What am I going to do!" She screamed as she kept hitting him and he allowed her to. It wasn't until Kol reached for the broom and threw it away that she stopped. She sought shelter in his arms as she continued to cry._

" _If you truly care for her, boy," Mikael said to his son. "You end this now before she gets hurt."_

 _Kol didn't say anything as he pulled Isa back inside her home. "Come, darling," he whispered as he caressed her hair. "Grab some trinkets you wish to keep, I'll make sure you're be safe."_

" _With you? Please, with you!"_

" _I'll come and join you as soon as I can, I promise," he said as he gazed into her eyes. "Now, grab some trinkets and clothes. I'll take you some place safe. You'll wait for me there."_

 _Nodding, Isa did as she was told and Kol brought her to a cabin in the woods. Not far from the village but also far enough to be safe. "There is a cavity underneath, you can hide there when the full moon is out. No need for you to go to the caverns."_

" _What is this?"_

" _I built this for us. Niklaus helped a little, but it was mostly me. This was supposed to be our home after we wed."_

 _Isa smiled at that and softly kissed him. "It is wonderful."_

" _I'll be back, I promise." He kissed her again and left, leaving her alone with her grief. Even though the cabin was isolated and well hidden, she felt safe. Knowing that this was going to be the home of her and Kol filled her heart with hope. Love._

 _She could already see them raise many children in it. Be happy, but the moment the thought entered her mind, she heard the whispers again. Kol was an abomination, what Esther had turned him into went against nature. They were never going to have children. "Lies!" Isa screamed at the top of her lungs._

 _It were days before Kol came back. It was night, and he looked frantic. Scared. She dove straight into his arms to console him but all he did was push her inside the house and onto the bed, kissing her greedily. Taking her in as his hands seemed to be everywhere on her body._

 _Her clothes ripped and she tried to push him off of her, but he was too strong. "Kol," she pleaded as she tried to make him look at her. "Kol, please…"_

" _I need to go," he said, pained by the words. "Mikael… he's gone mad… He killed our mother and he's now going through the village. Finn has already fled… I need to go."_

" _For how long?"_

" _Not long, but I wish to take what's mine," he said as he got up and continued to rip her clothes, drinking in her nakedness once he was done. She looked so innocent, so small, so trusting. He fought the urge to drink from her and he knew he could stop himself if he'd lose himself inside of her. He wanted to take what was rightfully his. "I'm aware we're not wed-"_

" _I'm yours," she whispered as she looked at him with nothing but love in her eyes. If she was scared, she wasn't showing it. "Take what's yours. Claim me."_

 _He got out of his undergarments, revealing himself to her, fully upright and leaking. She thought it was funny that men had those things to bring pleasure to a woman and she was well aware that it was going to hurt and braced herself as best as she could when he entered her. While she anticipated the pain of him stretching her out of her skin, she never imagined it would hurt this much. Crying out in pain, he greedily kissed her to stop her. The pain lingered before her body gave in to the pleasure. He stilled in her then with a grunt, and she could feel how he continued to fill her up._

 _She felt light-headed, but while he had reached his peak, she realized she still needed more and he wasn't going to give it to her as he withdrew from her and got dressed again. "I really need to go, darling," he apologized. "You'll be safe, Mikael won't hurt you, but he is mad."_

 _Sitting up, she watched him. "When will you be back?"_

" _Soon, I promise," he leaned onto the bed and looked her in the eyes. "You have such beautiful eyes and your body… it's exquisite. Once the storm has passed, we'll be reunited and we shall be together until our days are over." Kol pushed her hair out of her eyes. "You shall remain here until I return."_

" _I will."_

 _Grabbing a knife, he cut himself so she could drink his blood. "You can return that to me when I'm back," he smiled as she drank his blood before cutting herself so he could drink from her. "You and your delicious blood. I promise I shall return."_

" _I know," she smiled at him. "I'm not afraid."_

" _Whatever you do, don't go into the village," he told her. "Do not leave this cabin."_

" _But you must go."_

" _Yes."_

 _And just like that, he was gone._

~o.O.o~

 **Vienna, Austria, December 26th, 2012**

She could hear them from the inside of the cabin but was unable to fully understand what they were saying. They sounded unnatural, as if they had been spelled, or as if they weren't truly there. Isa got dressed and was greeted by a bleak winter's sun as she shoved snow to the sides to follow the sound of the birds. "I hear you!" She called to them, looking around as what their location could be.

While she loved travelling with Kol, he had taken her to a place without many trees to interact with, or animals, for that matter. It was winter after all and most species had migrated to a warmer climate, so the sound of these birds, especially this many, felt a little out of place. Looking up, she could see that they were perched in a row on top of their roof. "You all look lovely," she said as she watched them.

It was strange to see the birds look at each other in confusion. Normally they'd communicate whatever they wished to her, but their chatter had stopped the moment she addressed them. Something felt off. Something was wrong. "Kol?" She called out to him, her eyes never leaving the birds.

"Yes, darling? Come inside where it's warm."

"You need to see this."

She could hear him sigh before the rustling of clothes could be heard. "What's wrong?" He asked as he stepped outside and followed her gaze. Kol felt the color drain from his face as his eyes spotted the Starlings. He grabbed Isa's arm and pulled her inside the cabin before grabbing his phone and called his brother.

" _Kol."_

"Nik," he said as he walked through the cabin, packing up their belongings. "We have a problem."

" _She found you?"_

"You could have told me that Mother's back!"

" _And Father. Listen, do not come to New Orleans."_

"You're going to need our help, we're coming," Kol said with determination in his voice before he hung up. "Help me pack, Isa, Niklaus needs us."

"Because of the birds?"

"Yeah, you heard Niklaus, our parents are back. I don't know how, well… I have a stinking feeling how it happened, but we need to help him. Have his back, make sure that he's not alone in this even though he has Rebekah and Elijah and other people in his life. It doesn't hurt to have us around, either."

"But she could get to you. Mikael could get to you. To me! I killed him, Kol!" She said panicked as she tugged her bra out of his hands. "I'm not going! Mikael will kill me for my betrayal. He will kill me, just like he killed me after you left me!"

"What?" Kol said surprised. "I thought the wolves killed you."

The color drained from her face as she dropped her hands and head in shame. "That was something I made up to forget. A fast death is always better than the one I had." Tears fell down her cheeks as he lifted her chin to look at him. "The truth will hurt you, I do not wish for you to know the truth."

"I'm asking you nicely," he was worried now. Why would it hurt him? Ever since his reunion, he had believed her story about getting killed by angry wolves as they sought revenge for what Mikael had done. It sounded plausible enough, but her fear for Mikael was bigger than he had imagined. "Don't make me asking it any other way."

"You told me not to leave the cabin."

"I did," he said with a nod. "I left plenty of weapons there for you to go hunting for food."

"No, you don't get it," she said as she looked at him. "You told me not to leave the cabin," she repeated, slower this time. She could see the cogwheels work in his brain and decided to continue. "I couldn't leave the cabin. Only after my death and learning what it was to be immortal, I realized you had compelled me. An accidental compulsion, just how I'm not really supposed to be here but you fed me blood. Your blood that was still in my body when I died."

The guilt swept over his face. "Oh. Oh no."

"Mikael found me. I suppose he had followed your scent and believed you were with me. He couldn't enter, but that didn't stop him from trying to get me out, so he set fire to the cabin." She smiled at him, placing her hand on his cheek. "But I have forgiven you a long time ago. You didn't know."

Kol swallowed hard. "You were burned alive because I told you not to leave the cabin," he said in barely a whisper. "Oh, Isa, I am so sorry."

"I've always been afraid of Mikael. I respected him and I liked it that he seemed to like me for you, but he frightened me. He had that effect on people, so I didn't think twice about killing him to save Niklaus. To save his legacy, because with him, many would die, including the Salvatore brothers. I choose to end one life in exchange for many."

"And now he's back."

"I can't come to New Orleans with you. I can't. I can't face him again," she whispered. "I survived for so long by staying hidden. Many times I thought it was a bad idea to get involved two years ago, but I simply could not resist, knowing that you were with Nik and I had hopes that I'd see you again. Then they went away and I resigned myself for eternal slumber."

He wiped the tears off her face and of his own before smiling bravely. "I've learned a couple of things over the years. Such as you're stronger with a small army than on your own. You're better protected. Family protects you. And if you face your fears, you'll come out stronger."

"All good and all, but unlike you, I'm not indestructible."

"No, but you're family. We will all protect you, just like you will do anything in your power to make sure we're safe," he caressed her cheek and kissed the top of her head. "Nik needs us, Isa. We have to go back."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, December 28th, 2012**

She had run off to the Bayou the moment they got out of the car near the Abattoir. Kol wasn't sure why, well, he had an inkling. She had freaked out on the airport of Vienna and he had to compel her to calm down because of her anxiety, and he believed it was his own fault. Too much in too little time.

Isa had been used to living in the woods, and he had forced civilisation on her by going to areas where there weren't a lot of trees, and it went alright, but he had forgotten to realize that she had become one with nature. His beloved had missed her trees and her animals and she needed some time to adjust. It was a good thing that she left the car after arriving at the house, so he was certain that she'd find her way back.

It was rare for him to feel guilty about something. He had accepted the idea that Isa had been his first sire because they liked to swap blood and yes, he fed her his blood after turning. Come to think of it, Isa was his only sire. After having seen what it did to his siblings after they turned their firsts, Julien, Tristan and Aurora, Kol realized that he didn't want the responsibility. Not to mention, they were still learning how to be a vampire themselves, and later on, he simply didn't care. He ate, he killed. He ate, or compelled to forget. Never turned anyone.

He had liked to have fun, and with vampires created by him all around him, it wouldn't have been fun. Of course, he liked to make everyone believe that he had created an army for himself, but that was as far away removed from the truth as possible. Kol had thought about siring vampires, once or twice, mostly to comment on how great he was. How handsome he was. But then again, why sire when you could compel people to say and do whatever you wanted?

So while he had accepted that he had accidentally sired Isa, he couldn't forgive himself for compelling her to stay in the cabin back then. Of course she had forgiven him, that was what who and how she was, but he couldn't forgive himself. Accidental or not, he had assured that her death had been a gruesome one and for all he believed he had been the one that set the cabin ablaze, even if it had been done by Mikael.

"Are you simply going to stand there in the street, lost in thought, or are you coming inside?"

Klaus' voice roused him from his thoughts and he turned around to smirk. "I was merely taking in the view, brother. I have missed this city!"

"Well, if you and the little mouse weren't so busy galavanting around the globe, you would have returned home sooner!" Klaus hugged his brother before looking around. "Where is she?"

"Recharging. Hugging trees. Even when we return to our flat in Los Angeles, the first thing she does is go to the adjacent park for a day or two," Kol shrugged as he followed his brother inside. Nothing had really changed, upon first glance. "So, how bad is it?"

"Very," Klaus replied with a sigh. "Let's discuss it while having a drink. You'll need one."

"Gladly. The flight attendants cut me off on the flight here."

Klaus was amused. "And let me guess, you pulled one with you into the lavatory, had a bite and compelled her to give you some more?"

"Of course," Kol huffed as he followed his brother to his study. "Where are our siblings?"

"Elijah's taking care of something for me with a friend of mine," he poured two bourbons and handed one to Kol. "Rebekah's disappeared, but I'm pretty sure our mother has something to do with it, or a previously friendly witch."

"Oh, tell me about that witch!" He was intrigued. He loved witches. Kol always had had a good understanding with the witch population of New Orleans, he couldn't wait to test to see if that was still the case.

"She's a pesky little teenager, that one. She was one of the Harvest girls who nearly brought New Orleans down to its knees - of course, no thanks to your friend Marcel."

"He's still around?" It was obvious that he was disgusted by him. "Why do you keep people like that around, Nik? He's-"

"Grown into an exemplary vampire. You will not touch him, Kol."

He scowled as he took a sip of his drink. "Fine. Who's the witch?"

"Davina Claire."

Kol nearly choked on his bourbon. "Claire?"

"I knew that would get your attention. Yes. She's related to that witch you hung around with the last time and I hope that that bond will get you close to her, to see what she's up to. She's been too quiet for my liking and it is possible that she's behind Mikael's appearance."

"Oh great," he said sarcastically. "Allow me to throw myself infront of the wolves, why don't you?"

"You have Isa by your side," Klaus mused. "It's hardly dangerous."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, December 29th, 2012**

She knew that Kol that she was slightly off kilter, all the talk about the trees whispering to her, or the animals talking to her, and she had tried to limit her interactions about it as much as possible, toning it down, like it used to be. Much to the point where he'd think that she'd make a joke when she told him that she knew things.

But if she had to be honest, it had only intensified over the years. It was like an extra sense that got heightened after turning, and one that she couldn't easily shut off. Not that she wanted to; Isa needed it now to stay sane. She knew it sounded crazy, and if people thought she was crazy, then so be it. It wasn't as if she was normal to begin with.

She had spent the night with the trees as they whispered their secrets, as they whispered about Esther and Mikael. She was worried about both of them for different reasons. While Esther and Mikael both sought the destruction of their children, Esther wouldn't shy away from using spells and manipulation to get her children to see that they weren't supposed to be around anymore. Mikael would simply kill - especially Niklaus.

But with no magic in the family, the Mikaelsons would have to ally themselves with the witches of New Orleans and they had pissed off an important one, not even Elijah could turn the girl to reason. Maybe that's why Kol insisted on coming to the aid of his brother; he had a way with witches. While Kol would have something to do, she wouldn't. She'd try to accompany him as much as possible because she didn't want anything to happen to him. He was her beloved.

She could ask the animals to look after the rest of them. While the Salvatores were idiots with mostly every decision they made, the Mikaelson nearly always thought things through, but as the trees had told her; their blind spots had always been the cause of a plan failing.

Now that she was aware of everything going on, she politely asked the trees and the animals to communicate with her for the duration of her stay in New Orleans. That, should they be worried about their secrets getting out, they could ask the trees in Mystic Falls about Isa. But she promised them that she was a good person and that while she stayed in New Orleans, she would look out for them, too.

She had purchased a sandwich on her way to the Mikaelson home and was impressed when she set foot in the courtyard. It was grande, it was over the top and spacious. Isa wasn't sure if she wanted to stay in the building, she preferred something more compact. Sitting down in one of the chairs, she unwrapped her sandwich and started to eat.

She watched as other people entered the courtyard and eyed her carefully before making their way up the stairs or downstairs to the kitchens. The last one, a dark skinned vampire, didn't even bother and just approached her as if he owned the building.

"Excuse me," he said as he looked at her. "You're in a private residence, you're not supposed to be here."

"I am," Isa replied as she kept his eyes on him and munched on her sandwich. "Who are you to tell me I do not belong?"

"Either you walk out of here on your own, off of _my_ property, or I shall make you."

"Your property?" Isa scoffed, still munching on her sandwich. "I think not."

When the vampire wanted to grab her to help her up, she put the sandwich on the table and got to her feet. Isa grabbed his arm and broke it as she pushed him against the nearest column. "Do not try to touch me again, young one," she hissed at him. She ducked when the vampire turned around and took a swing at her.

For a young vampire, he was quite strong. A warrior. Likely Nik's second in command as he liked strong vampires for his army. The trees had told her about him. The fallen King of the Quarter. "Marcel," she said with a smirk as she ducked again and let out a cackle when she ran back to her sandwich and took a bite out of it, waiting for him to come back again.

Who was she? In any case, she needed to leave. With the whole Mikaelson family tragedy that was going on, they really couldn't use a deranged vampire to deal with. How could she just stand there, eating her Po-Boy and look at him like that? Like a little girl? She was likely a drifter, her clothes recently had a brush with some dirt. There was a twig sticking out of her hair and while he knew not to underestimate women who looked like they were girls, he couldn't help but take pity. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you obviously know who I am. Let me take you to a shelter."

Isa huffed as she allowed the vampire to come closer again. When he reached out, she broke his arm again. "I told you not to touch me," she said with a growl, staring him down even though she was staring upwards. "The next time I shall sever your head from your spine."

"It's okay," Marcel smiled at her, reaching for her again, despite his broken arm. Perhaps she was simply frightened. She had him on the floor in a matter of a second, her foot firmly planted on his back.

"I told you," Isa said before snapping his neck. "Niklaus!" She called out, looking around for him and spotted him on the balcony looking over the courtyard. "I broke your toy! But he's a vampire, right? He'll come back!"

"Little Mouse," he smiled at her, making his way down the stairs to greet her. "How lovely to make your presence known. My brother is obviously treating you well."

"I am not going to apologize," she said as she pointed at the vampire at her feet. "I warned him and he underestimated me. For your lieutenant, he's obviously incapable of acting quicker."

Klaus huffed as he hugged her. "Marcel has a thing for young, impressionable girls. Don't blame him for his weakness. He likes to pretend he's a big brother."

"I don't like him. Where's Kol?"

"He's making nice with the witches. Come, let me show you to your room so you can clean yourself up, we have a lot to catch up on," he said as he placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the room.

"We don't have anything to catch up on, I already know," Isa smiled at him as he let her into the room. "And I am terrified, so I have no idea what you must be feeling."

"Nonsense," he said as he caressed her hair. "We have stopped them before, we shall do it again."

She eyed him and cocked her head. "I don't know who you're trying to fool, but I'm not buying it. However, I find it admirable that you're trying to keep up hope for your family."

"Hope is all we need," he smiled at her. "Would you like me to buy you a goat?"

Isa blinked at him. "For what?"

"Your diet."

"I can eat humans, I find them delicious. If I'm in the mood for something else, there's a whole big Bayou out there that I can feast upon." When she saw the look on his face, she smirked. "Don't worry, Niklaus. I always make sure that when I eat a wolf, it's not a werewolf, I don't want to end up cursed."

~o.O.o~

"Calm down, Marcellus," Klaus said amused as he watched him rant and pace the room. It was amusing how he got so worked up about everything so easily.

"Calm down? Klaus, we can't deal with this right now, I understand now that she's your friend, but you're in serious trouble as it is, there's no point in entertaining someone like that!" As he was pacing around the room, hands waving around as if he was making a point, Klaus continued to watch him calmly.

"Someone like who?"

"You have a shitty taste in friends, you know that, right?"

"Present company excluded, of course."

"Of course."

He sighed as he sat down on a chair, looking at his sire. "Can she be of use to us?"

"Of course."

"Seriously?" Marcel snorted. "She's insane."

"Why? Because she found her sandwich more important than having to deal with you?" He countered, watching his friend as he did. "What made you think that she's insane?"

"She's your friend."

"Funny."

Marcel sighed. "I don't know, Klaus. With Kol coming back in town, don't we have enough to deal with? I thought you said he didn't have to come home?"

"I did, but he knows that family is far more important than anything else. I assure you, Isa will be able to take care of herself, even if she doesn't look like it," Klaus replied, rising from his seat. "She doesn't play well with others, that's all."

"How come you never told me about her?"

"First of all, I don't have to tell you _everything_ , Marcel," he poured himself a bourbon and took a sip. "Secondly, up until two years ago, we didn't even know she was still around. Yes, she's that good at staying hidden."

Marcel was quiet for a moment and then it was as if a lightbulb went off. "Two years ago? Around the same time Kol's dagger was removed? Is she the reason the asshole isn't in his box?" When Klaus didn't say anything, Marcel's eyes grew wide. "She is! Great! The maniac got himself a little friend!"

"Yes, and in exchange, he's become less of a maniac, or at least a maniac kept in check."

Marcel huffed. "Kill her, shove Kol in a box. That's one part of our problem solved."

Klaus was on Marcel within a blink of an eye, nearly tipping him out of his chair. "We need Kol to make nice with the witches that haven't gone over to Esther's side since you've lost your way with Davina. Isa will help where she can with the rest of our issues."

"Great. Then send her to Elijah."

"Stop talking about me," Isa growled from the door, wrapped in a towel and soaking wet otherwise. "You are giving me a headache and I'm trying to get clean."

Marcel pushed Klaus away from him and walked over to Isa as he straightened himself, making himself appear taller than he already was. "I don't like you."

"Hi, I'm Isa," she said as she held out her hand for him, dropping the towel in the process. "Seems like you and I are going to get along perfectly, Marcel."

Klaus averted his gaze immediately but made his way over nonetheless, picking up the towel and wrapped it back around Isa. "Go finish your shower, Little Mouse. We shan't talk about you any longer."

"Oh, please do, but I'd like to be in the room when you do it," she grinned as she walked off, leaving a trail of wet feet and water drops on the floor.

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, December 31st, 2012**

She had been inside for two whole days now and even though no one was stopping her from going out, she didn't quite like the people outside. Yes, she had made her way through them on her way back from the Bayou, but to aimlessly walk around in an area that was a known tourist trap? No. Not without dragging one or two of those people off the streets to eat.

Instead, she listened as closely as she could. To the humans. To the whispers. To the vampires in the compound. She learned that Marcel had somehow fallen out of grace with Niklaus and didn't live anywhere near them. There was a crazed witch out there called Davina Claire, whom Kol was sent to get through to, but he hadn't been lucky so far, mainly because Davina was hellbent on killing Klaus, and had resurrected Mikael to do so. She had been able to bind him to her, but due to an unfortunate chain of events, someone managed to break the spell and now he was on the loose - and Kol wasn't switching sides either.

With Mikael running free, Isa had insisted in coming with Kol or Klaus whenever they'd leave, but they, in turn, insisted that they were big boys and didn't need her around.

And so, she had stayed in the building. All by herself. Bored. She was never bored when she was surrounded by her trees, but she didn't want to disappoint Kol, either. Isa wanted to stay in the Bayou, but he didn't want to because the werewolves were there and with Niklaus being fickle from time to time, he didn't want to chance a bite or worse. She didn't want to leave him, but she needed to do _something_.

The plans that she had heard that were made inside the house, sounded great, but there wasn't room for her there. She decided she was going to take someone out of the equation to make it work, and easier for her family. Isa jumped out of her window and into the alley behind the compound and ignored the humans around her upon exiting the alley. She was listening for something else.

Distracted, she walked around for hours before finding what she had been looking for; the fake birds. There weren't a lot of them, but they were all in the Cemetery. Isa found it hilarious that it was called a City of the Dead. Dead was dead, there was no coming back to it, so why build a city? Where was the bank or the shop? No where.

"I still don't understand why you're not speaking to me," she said as she looked to the birds. "At least your European counterparts didn't, will you?"

The birds looked at her before flying away. "No, wait!" She called out and started to follow them. "I mean you no harm! I only want to learn why I can't understand you! This hasn't happened to me before!" The birds kept flying away from her and eventually disappeared, and she couldn't find them again.

Maybe this was the first sign that she was losing her touch. Maybe she was crazy and all the whispers she had heard from the trees were just imaginary. But how could they possibly have been true? She looked around and wasn't quite sure where she was. She knew that she had followed the birds back into the direction of the French Quarter, but that was it.

She looked at the tree and sighed. If she was losing her touch, the tree wouldn't talk to her. Determined to find her way back, she walked over to it and gently placed her hand on its trunk and she could feel its essence, its heart, course through the bark. "Well, at least you're alive," she whispered to it and caressed it. "Can you talk?"

Isa smiled when she heard a faint 'yes' inside her head. "Good! Now, I want to go home, where do I go?" When the tree replied that it didn't have any idea, she frowned. "Are you ill?" No, it wasn't. It simply couldn't tell her which way to go because he wasn't allowed to, which made her feel sad for it. She gently placed a kiss on the trunk and turned around to see that she had gathered an audience around her. "What? Never seen a woman kiss a tree before? Be kind to nature around you because they sustain us," she shot at them as she marched away.

There was a sign down the road. She was going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, upon arriving at the sign, she couldn't read it. Not because she didn't know how to, but because the letters were all jumbled up or blurred out and it was as if someone was messing with her. She felt a slight panic raise in her chest as she focused on the words, but they wouldn't straighten themselves out and people were following her, looking at what she was doing.

"Kol," she started to chant as she ran through the streets. "Kol! Find me! Find me! Please, find me! I promise I won't go out all by myself again! Just find me!"

She kept running for what seemed like forever, and found her no longer to be in New Orleans, but still unable to read signs. If only she had allowed Kol to buy her a telephone, now she was all alone and with someone tricking her. She felt sick to her stomach, a knot was forming and her heart ached. Something was terribly wrong and it was all her fault.

"Are you okay?"

She looked at the man who spoke to her, his voice was kind, his expression was kind too. She wanted to sink her teeth into him. "I'm hungry."

"Are you lost?"

Isa nodded. "My home is in the French Quarter but I have no idea how to get there. I can't read and the trees aren't talking to me. I was lured away, far away, by birds."

"Well, you're not far away from it, at all. In fact, Algiers, which is just across the river from your home, is down that busy road," the man pointed at the highway. "I was driving into town anyway, would you like a lift?"

"No, no, thank you. I can -"

"It wasn't a request, Isa."

~o.O.o~

"I swear, if we find him, I'm going to rip out his heart," Kol fumed as he paced the room. "Locking us into our mind, trapping vampires and werewolves into your home? The audacity!"

"Meanwhile, we know that Elijah is alright." Klaus piped up as he poured himself and his brother a bourbon. "At least Isa wasn't inside the compound."

Kol grumbled as he begrudgingly took his drink. "She's probably off communing with her precious trees," he spat. "Don't get me wrong, Nik, I'm mad for her. I'm still mad for her after all these years, and she'd always been a little… nutty… but this is beyond mad. She's hiding it from me, but I swear, she has a screw loose."

"And yet, you asked her to marry you."

"Of course."

"I'm curious to what her answer might have been."

Kol huffed as he downed his drink in one go. "She told me to ask her family."

"They're dead."

"No, she meant the trees in Mystic Falls. I mean…"

"Very well," Klaus said as he saw the desperation on his brother's face. "When she returns, we shall compel her to forget all about her trees and animals. Would that help you, brother?"

"No," Kol scowled. "It'll only make me feel worse than I already do."

Klaus was surprised at that. It was unlikely for him to express his personal feelings, he never realised that his brother was capable of guilt. Then again, everyone said the same about himself. "What's on your mind?"

"I don't want to compel her, Nik, let's just leave it at that."

It was obvious that he was struggling with something, and it was bubbling right under the surface. "Brother?"

He roared as he threw his glass against the wall. "Apparently, I'm the fastest learning vampire there is, because not only did I turn someone before you and Elijah did, but I also compelled someone without my knowledge. How great is that!"

"You compelled Isa?"

"I didn't know, okay!" He blurted. "I told her to stay at the cabin until I returned, which, of course, I never did, and she died there. I mean, I suppose I should feel grateful to our father, because otherwise she would have starved to death, but still. I'm the reason she turned because she had no other place to go!"

He was quiet as he let his brother rant about it. He could understand where he was coming from, but it was hardly his fault. "You truly care about her, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Nik. And if I didn't, I still would because she waited a thousand years for me. A thousand years! No one's ever done something like that, for me. She scares me with how devoted she is to me, to us, to our family. She worries me because… because she's not alright in the head. And yes, we could compel her to forget all about it, but I don't want her to get hurt."

Yes, this was far more than Klaus had bargained for. Normally, Elijah would be around to be a listening ear, to give out advice, but he wasn't there. "Then there's another solution."

"Which is what?"

"We kill her."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, January 1st, 2013**

She woke up, and she was thirsty. Hungry. Thirsty and yet, not so much, but she had a dry mouth. Isa had absolutely no idea where she was and couldn't find anything that could talk to her either, all she heard was noise, inside her mind. She couldn't move, either. There was something holding her down, an invisible force.

"Finally, you're awake," the man said as a bright light switched on, blinding her. She wasn't sure why, because she had seen him before he struck her down with magic. "Forgive my rudeness in not offering you anything to eat or drink, but you are a vampire after all."

"Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter," he spoke and Isa could hear the fabric of his shirt move. He was shrugging. "I couldn't believe Mother when she spoke of you, it simply didn't make any sense because if you were still around, that would mean that not Niklaus nor Elijah had sired the first vampire, but our little misfit of a brother."

"Finn."

"Hey, well done!" Finn clapped excitedly. "Now, now that you've established who I am, let me tell you why I need you."

Isa growled. She knew why Finn took her. It was either for more power, or to get to Kol. The noise in her head got louder, almost like a high pitched whistle. She clutched her head as it intensified and started to hurt her head. She could endure this. She wasn't going to help Finn, even if it'd end up in her death. Finn should have known better. Isa wasn't going to break.

~o.O.o~

"According to Hayley, there's no vampire in the Bayou. They've checked," Marcel said as he looked at the two Original vampires who were pacing around.

"She's not with the witches, either," Kol snapped. It wasn't unusual for Isa to disappear for a couple of days, but normally she'd say something. This wasn't how he imagined ringing in the new year with her.

"That leaves us with Mikael, Esther or maybe even a third possibility," Klaus said reluctantly. "Maybe she's left you, brother."

"She wouldn't!"

"Fine, let's assume she's been taken," Marcel said calmly. "To what end? More power? I think they took her because they want to get to you. Like Finn has done."

"I swear, if that weasel laid a hand on her…" Kol growled as he kept pacing.

Klaus stopped as he looked at his brother. "And only yesterday you were contemplating whether or not to kill the Little Mouse, make up your mind, Kol."

"As much as I dislike this idea," Kol said after he ended his pacing session. "Isa's a strong girl. She's been through a lot and has managed to stay alive this long. We should continue forming our plan to end at least one of our parents for once and for all."

"It's likely that she'll end up killing the person who's holding her captive."

"If that's our mother, then I heartily encourage her to do so."

"She's not invincible, brother. Let's ask Davina to perform a simple locator spell and rescue the love of your life," Klaus said calmly, slightly disturbed by his brother's lack of alarm. It seemed to him that he wanted to know where Isa was, but he also wished to end this misery that they found themselves in and he didn't seem to want to choose for her. "We can go after our parents any other day. Maybe even wait for Rebekah or Elijah to return so that we're stronger."

Kol huffed. "I thought you wanted an end to all this, Nik."

"I do, but not at the expense of Isa."

"I'll go get Davina," Marcel said as he eyed the two brothers. "Don't do anything stupid."

~o.O.o~

She didn't know for how long it lasted, but all of a sudden, the noise and pain stopped. There was still a severe ringing in her ears, but she was no longer under attack. "Finn, I told you to capture her and bring her to me. I didn't say anything about torture." Yet another unfamiliar voice, but she didn't have to take a guess about who the mysterious woman was. It was Esther. Just like her son, in a different body. Just as the trees had told her.

See, she wasn't crazy.

"But-"

"Isa is our guest, my son," she said kindly and Isa could feel how the spell weighing her down was lifted. "She's a kind soul, what was your idea, Finn? To break her spirit? Or did you simply want to torture her because she's not yours but your brother's?"

Isa's body hurt, and she didn't even bother to move apart from sitting up. Her instincts told her to run, but she was still unable to hear the whispers and if she'd leave, she was afraid they'd never return to her. "You could have just asked," she said, her throat dry and raw from the screaming.

"And would you have come on your own volition, little pet?" Esther spoke kindly as she sat down next to Isa and lifted her chin. "I am sorry for what Finn has done to you, he shouldn't have, please forgive him."

"He doesn't deserve my forgiveness," she muttered. "What do you want?"

"I want to help you, just as I wish to help my children. You are a strange little thing. I could sense your power at the ball. You're so much more than a vampire and that is unnatural."

"I don't understand."

"Oh my dear child," Esther gently caressed her hair. "You've always been special. You were a good influence on my son Kol, and blessed with such a kind heart. While magic should have left your body the moment you turned into a vampire, it stayed and only grew stronger over the years."

"She's a hybrid?" Finn blinked at his mother. "She's not plainly crazy?"

"Maybe a little of both," she mused as she kept observing Isa's face. "Isa wasn't a witch, and in that time that was all we knew. You were either a witch, a healer or a warrior. It was what was known. Everyone else, like Isa, were simply cursed by the Gods."

"And you can't be a vampire and a witch, we all know that and yet, there are the Heretics," Finn said sarcastically. "Which is ridiculous."

"The Heretics are a different story as they were a different kind of witch. No, Isa's a descendant of a _dísir_ , a fertility spirit. They lost their magic in the Old World, and upon coming to the New World, to what is now called Mystic Falls, the magic was reactivated. Not immensely, but significantly," she kept looking at Isa, who was now simply confused. "She was never a witch, so her gift only grew once she became a vampire."

Finn squatted down in front of his mother and Isa. "Interesting. What will that mean for us?"

"Nothing," Esther said as she looked at her son. "Isa has done nothing to us to solicit our full attention as your siblings have been getting." Her gaze then shifted back to Isa. "Does this information help you in anyway, my child?"

"No," she growled as she allowed the hunger take over her body. Reaching out to Finn, she ripped out his heart as she sunk her teeth into Esther. They shouldn't have gotten close to her. Why were people always underestimating her? It didn't matter anyway. The information received from Esther would only make Kol eyeroll even harder on her as it sounded like fiction. It was best that he'd never hear the story.

As she was draining Esther from all her blood, she didn't realize that Niklaus, Kol and Marcel had found her. Still having Finn's heart in her hands, she withdrew from Esther and saw her body fall on the floor next to her. "She tasted old."

"What did you do?" Klaus said hesitantly. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Yes. I killed your mother and your brother," Isa said as she got to her feet and handed Klaus Finn's heart. "They shouldn't have captured me."

"She probably jumped into another body and now we have to spend more time to find her!" He spat at her, throwing the heart through the room and angrily left.

"Probably," Marcel assured Isa. "Probably not because you caught her off guard." He then gave her two thumbs up. "Good job."

Isa looked at Kol, who looked torn between following his brother and his frenemy, or stick with his beloved. "Go after him then," she dared him, obviously hurt. "Finn hurt me and your mother was a twisted person, telling a fairy tale that wasn't true. And you wanted her gone too, for being a danger to you and your family."

"I know, but he's right."

"Then you should have told me about your plans instead of leaving me out of them!" She said angrily as she pushed Kol away from her and walked out of the building.

"Isa, wait."

"No," she said as she kept walking. "I think it's best if I disappear for a while."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, January 4th, 2013**

While his brother Klaus was watching Haley dote over her daughter, Elijah was brought up to speed with current events by Kol and Marcel. He understood that Niklaus was still angry about Isa killing Esther and Marcel was angry because Klaus was, but he found the whole situation ironic, considering it was usually Niklaus who did the exact same thing. He also found it deplorable that Isa hadn't been involved in any discussion when it came to planning Esther's demise. Or Mikael's, for that matter.

He waited until dinner to part with his thoughts on the matter. "Where is the lovely Isa?"

"I don't know," Kol said with a shrug. "I had Davina do a locator spell but she doesn't want to be found. Or maybe she got herself killed."

"And you're not vexed by the possibilities at all?" He said surprised. He had witnessed their reunion in the midst of a bloodied church, and ever since then he and Isa had been inseparable. "I thought you cared for her, brother."

"My allegiance lies with my family," Kol said as he took a sip of his bourbon. "Besides, Niklaus was right, Esther could have jumped in a different body, setting us back weeks of work because now we'll have to find her again."

"Isa is part of this family."

Klaus huffed. "She was an accident. I swear, if I'll see her again, I will tear out her heart." He then pointed at Kol. "And he even encouraged that it would be grand if Isa would kill our Mother if she was the one holding her captive!"

Elijah could see the slight shift on Kol's face, and then realized what was truly going on. Kol didn't dare to choose a side because Klaus had the means to put him away again and he liked being out. "Niklaus, how many times have you been in the same situation as Isa was in? Captured and tortured? How many times have you seized the opportunity to kill?"

"Many times, Elijah, but never someone who was instrumental in our plans!"

"I disagree. There have been many times where Rebekah and I had been forced to change plans the last second because you couldn't control your impulses," he simply stated before cutting into his meat. "I do not see why you should blame Isa for an act like that. Nor Kol for having his own thoughts about the matter."

"She's not right in the head, Elijah. Maybe it's kinder to her if we'd end her life."

Elijah looked over to Kol, who had pushed his plate forward, barely touched. "There is nothing wrong with Isa."

"She talks to trees and animals! How is that nothing wrong?"

"Have you ever considered that it is the truth?" Elijah countered. "Remember, we are not the only ones who have witnessed her doing so. She's been the guardian of the Salvatore brothers for centuries and the last time I spoke to Damon, the tree stump Ezekiel is doing better than ever. A tree stump that shouldn't be capable of growing back after being uprooted and placed back. But it is."

"Luck," Klaus huffed.

"She hasn't been doing it a lot, lately," Kol added softly. "I've been taking her to places that don't have a lot of nature, to see if there'd be a change."

"And what is your conclusion?" Elijah raised an eyebrow as he looked at Kol.

"You should have seen the excitement in her eyes when she discovered the Starlings on top of our cabin, and then the disappointment when they weren't communicating with her," he replied with half a shrug. "Something's not right, we already knew that. Her being a vampire only made it worse."

"Then how do you explain the events in Mystic Falls? Her knowing almost every single thing that was going on?"

"It's Mystic Falls. That place is packed with magic," Kol huffed. "Please, Elijah, don't tell me you believe that she's capable of it? It's impossible. And maybe she's better off without us anyway."

"How so?"

When Kol remained silent and started to refill his glass, Elijah looked at Klaus who had an amused look on his face. "Niklaus?"

"Would you believe it when I told you that not only did Kol turn the first human, but also that he compelled her to stay in the cabin that he had built for them?"

"Yes."

"Well, Kol feels actual guilt about having turned Isa. Mikael came looking for Kol but found Isa instead and since she couldn't leave the cabin, he decided to light it on fire, seeing if she'd come out."

"Oh dear God," Elijah said shocked. "That poor girl must have been in so much pain."

"Well, I take a fire over starving to death any day," Klaus said, clearly enjoying himself. "Let's not continue to discuss this any further, we have more important things to talk about."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, January 7th, 2013**

Why did Mikael have to take Cami? Granted, there wasn't much that angered Klaus more than taking his friends hostage, and Mikael obviously wanted to draw him out. While Kol was with Davina somewhere in the Bayou, Elijah was pursuing other ideas back at the compound. He still hadn't forgiven him for getting angry at Isa, but she shouldn't have done what she had done. Fortunate for her, she did kill Esther before she had a chance to jump into a different host, so he wouldn't kill her on the spot. Maybe he'd draw it out over the course of centuries.

But he couldn't think about Isa right now, Cami was in danger because of him, and if Mikael wanted a fight, then a fight he was going to get. Finding a rock soaked in blood outside an abandoned building, he picked it up and sniffed it. It was Cami's. Rage fuelling him, he grabbed the shovel and broke it in half. Granted, it wouldn't do much against Mikael, but maybe it'd fight him off long enough for Klaus to take the White Oak Stake and kill his Father with it.

These shenanigans had been going on for long enough.

If something needed to be done, it's best to deal with it himself; of course, after countless amounts of having someone else try it. But while Mikael _had_ been on Davina's magical leash, he was now free and in possession of the blade of Papa Tunde _and_ the White Oak Stake.

And Klaus was armed with a part of a shovel.

Alright, so Mikael had the upperhand. But while his father had most of the weapons, he didn't have the experience Klaus had when it came to combat. Yes, he was going to bring Mikael down, for once and for all.

Knowing that Kol was on the other end of the Bayou gave him a little bit more confidence. He'd rather had Elijah by his side, but alas, their combined stubbornness kept Elijah away from the fight. Very well. Taking a deep breath, Klaus stepped inside the empty building where Mikael was holding Cami at knifepoint. "Let her go, Mikael." Cami didn't look too good and he couldn't help but flinch when Mikael dropped her to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Foolish _boy_ , caring for a human? How pathetic," Mikael spat at his son, who angrily launched himself at his father who, in turn, pushed his son away from him, causing the both of them to roll away from each other and standing up in a defensive position.

Not wasting any time, Klaus advanced on him again, but Mikael was stronger, and threw Klaus through a wall, before picking him up and pushing him against another. He just about managed to stop Mikael from plunging the stake in his chest, but it was a struggle.

"You were never able to beat me, _boy_ ," Mikael spat at him as he kept struggling with the stake and his son. "The last time it took a _girl_ to save your skin."

Klaus blinked when Mikael flew across the room, revealing a smirking Kol in his place. "Let's kill our father, brother," he said cheerfully. "You shouldn't have to do this alone."

If Kol had to be honest, fighting Mikael would most likely lead to either his death, or both their deaths, but Davina was casting spells just around the corner to weaken Mikael and to make sure that the stake didn't hold that much power. He hated to rely on a Claire, but she was the most powerful witch they could get their hands on.

Yeah, he was shitting bricks, but he didn't want Niklaus to die either. The trick was to get a hold of one of the stakes, preferably both. The blade would be awesome so that Mikael would be even more weakened, the stake would be easier to take from him and then they could kill him. It would have been better if Elijah was around to help them out, or Rebekah, but that wasn't going to happen.

It was a good thing he managed to call that bitch Hayley and that idiot Marcel before he joined his brother in a fight then, who joined them when Mikael flung Kol across the building.

Not even ten minutes later, Mikael had them all incapacitated, one way or another. He hadn't even killed them, he had simply taken his time and would continue to take his time killing them all. Then again, Marcel and Hayley would die if Klaus did, so there wasn't a lot of work for Mikael left.

Kol cursed Davina under his breath as he pushed his arm back in its socket. Strong witch? More like a wannabe, only good for locator spells and other minor things.

"Even with help, you can't beat me, _boy_." Mikael said as he approached his son and plunged the White Oak Stake in his heart. Nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing happened apart from Klaus deciscating.

Kol quickly rose to his feet and pushed Mikael away from Klaus while Cami tried to get the stake out of him, but weakened by the blood loss, it took her some time. It was then when Isa finally showed her face and she didn't look too happy, either. "You're all crappy," she said as she pulled the stake out of Klaus and looked at Mikael who was still fighting with Kol. "And you're a bully who doesn't want to stay dead."

She peeled Mikael off of her beloved and flung him across the room. She dropped the stake on top of Niklaus before leaping at Mikael to pin him down. It was a struggle, but the previous fighting had weakened Mikael as well, and she could hear the change in Davina's chanting, so she was helping as well. "Someone kick Nik to wake him up so he can have victory over Mikael," she said with a growl as she punched Mikael in his face. She wasn't quite sure how long she could over power him, seeing as she only fed on animals for the last week.

She'd rather kill Mikael herself, again. He had been the source of so much hurt over the years for her beloved and his family that he deserved it. But Nik deserved to kill him too, for all the abuse. For everything. She laughed when Mikael kicked her off of him and she flew through the air, smacking into Kol. "Weee!"

"Damnit, Isa," Kol growled as he got to his feet. "That wasn't funny."

"No, but that was fun, I'm going to go for another round," she smirked as she ran towards Mikael again, knocking him over with her speed and sat down on top of him, his arms pinned to his side. She looked over her shoulder and finally saw Nik getting to his feet and grabbing the stake. "I already killed your mother, and I killed your father two years ago, so hurry up, Nik. Now it's your turn!"

Klaus was standing over Isa and his father in an instant, but now found himself torn between killing Mikael - the monster of all monsters, or Isa. While Esther hadn't jumped to a new body, she acted on a whim and she could have brought even more danger upon them. On top of that, she was crazy and to kill her, would be a mercy killing for her, and revenge for him. She could become dangerous in the future.

However, Mikael was harder to kill and Isa had basically handed him on a silver platter. Klaus owed her for killing Mikael the first time.

He hated choices.

Klaus pulled Isa off of Mikael before plunging the stake in his chest, watching in fascination as his father burned as he held on to her. Once he was gone, he turned to her. "Thank you, Little Mouse."

"You're welcome," she said, looking up to him. "Are you going to kill me now? Rip my heart of of my chest and give it to my beloved? End my _suffering_?"

"Would you want me to?"

She shrugged. "It's not my decision, is it? I think there's nothing more you'd like than to kill me and put Kol back in his box, saves you a lot of grief, doesn't it? But he came to your rescue, as did I."

Klaus looked at her, confused. She sounded sane. Not all floaty and the mention of talking to trees. Why had Kol made such a big deal out of it? Or was it simply a mask? Pretending to be sane? "I think," he said slowly as he let her go. "You should continue to make yourself scarce until I know what to do with you."

"What about Kol?"

"Whether or not he joins you is his own decision, but I promise you, as long as you're still alive, I will not put him back in his box."

She smiled at that and hugged him before making her way over to Kol. She gently placed a hand on his cheek and looked up to him. "I think you're unsure about everything, my love," she said gently. "I understand that it is hard having to deal with everything that has happened in the last two years, since our reunion. You were never quite comfortable with the thought I was still here. Waiting. Longing. Come find me when you figure it all out and whatever the outcome is, I shall have my peace with it."

"Isa…"

She tiptoed and softly kissed his lips. "I love you. I will always love you, even if you don't or won't love me back." Isa smiled at him before she sped off.

"Not a word," Klaus warned Marcel and Hayley before picking Cami off the floor. "Let's go home."

~o.O.o~

 **Mystic Falls, March 21st, 2013**

Kol had left New Orleans a day after Isa had gone. He had mixed feelings about it all. He was still terrified of Nik, but he was also a man of his word; as long as Isa was alive, Kol was not to be boxed. He decided it was better for him to put as much space between him and his brother, just in case.

He had gone back to the flat he shared with Isa in Los Angeles, secretly hoping that she'd be there, but she wasn't. Nor had she been seen in the woods behind their home. Kol then started to travel, looking for answers about Isa. Seer after seer told him that she was special as vampires were everything that nature wasn't, and that she held a balance.

And more and more, he started to despise himself for not having opened up more. It was his own fault, wasn't it? He loved magic, he loved witches, maybe a part of him was jealous about that part of Isa that wasn't entirely vampiric. That she had retained her craziness. Yes, even thousand years ago, he thought she was slightly insane, but they both were quite adventurous with his magic, and their sharing of their blood.

Kol was so used having things his own way, just like his siblings, that he had forced her into something she wasn't comfortable with. Oh, he knew she tried, she tried hard, especially because he didn't give her a lot of space to work with, and he found that strangely enough, quite ego inflating. Even as a vampire, there wasn't a malicious bone in her body, she did everything out of the goodness of her heart, and that was something he hadn't experienced in a long time.

He needed to talk to her, explain his side of things. Maybe beg her to come back with him and start over. Do it all again. Make her forget about the creepy hippy crap so she wouldn't weird him out. She needed to accept that it was unacceptable, that there wasn't room for that in his life. Why would he ask her trees for permission to marry her? For them to accept his proposal? He wasn't even sure if he wanted to marry her anymore. If she wasn't willing to change, then he'd rather have her out of his life.

Yet, stupidly, he had a brilliant idea to get her back. But he felt ridiculous and didn't tell anyone about his plans. Nik would certainly laugh at him.

Letting out a deep breath, he stepped into the woods of Mystic Falls. "Okay uhm… so… Hi, I'm Kol Mikaelson and if you could bring Isa to me, that would be lovely," he said as he walked around. "I mean, I've tried to find her. Had witches scry for her and she doesn't show up anywhere. I think she came home and if so, you can bring her back to me."

"Talking to trees now, are we?"

Startled, Kol turned around to see Damon Salvatore stand behind him with a big, stupid grin on his face. "Wipe that grin off your face, Damon, and mind your own business."

"But I am," he replied as he pushed past the Original and headed deeper into the woods. "Ever since you took Isa away from here, I've been making sure that the trees are alright. If one looks sickly, I call in a park ranger buddy of mine to patch it right up." Damon gently pat a tree stump. "Ezekiel here is flourishing. Give it a hundred years and he's back to being a tree."

"You're insane."

Damon shrugged. "It's all relative, and you just asked the trees to find your girlfriend, so I don't know who's more insane."

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Of course I do. My brother has switched off his humanity, I'm trying to bring my mother back from a Gemini prison world and oh yeah, we brought back the Vampire Cure from a different prison world and my girlfriend doesn't want me to take it with her, so yeah, I have better things to do," he replied as he ventured deeper into the woods. "However, seeing as Isa's been looking out for me and my brother, and the rest of Mystic Falls for a very long time, I thought that I'd do something nice for her. Like taking care of her trees and look after her cabin."

"Your mother's in a Gemini prison world?" Kol blinked. "Best to leave her there, mate."

"No," Damon said angrily. "She's my mother and doesn't belong there."

"Trust me, Damon, if the Gemini put your mother in a prison world, then she's there for a reason," he replied. "You should not get her out, under any circumstance."

"She's my mother, Kol. She's not evil and doesn't belong there."

Throwing his hands up in defeat, Kol sighed. "Fine, but don't come running to us when things go sideways. Once she's out, she's your responsibility."

"Aha!" Damon turned around to face him and pointed at him. "Speaking of responsibility, where's Isa?"

Kol let out a growl.

"Oh, you lost her, didn't you? How? She doesn't have a bad bone in her body, did you do something to push her away? Oh!" Damon grinned. "Ohh, you don't believe her and you don't fully trust her, do you? Oh man, you screwed up!"

"I'm warning you, Damon."

"And that's why you asked the trees! As a last resort!" He was having way too much fun with this. "You know, I should despise you, but I already did, so I can't do that even more. But how can you screw this up? She's the sweetest, when she's not breaking private body parts, but I suppose I deserved that."

"What would you do if you were in my shoes, Damon?"

"Well, after learning Isa's story, I would have cherished her, worshipped her. I would have adapted to her. If I'd love her, that is. I mean, I don't in a sexual way, but yeah, I can see she's a keeper," when Damon saw the confused look on Kol's face, he sighed. "Come on, I need to show you something."

Kol followed Damon to the cabin and he couldn't recognize it at all. He had built a wooden one for her and he could imagine her having rebuilt it over the years, but not in the way that it had been. There was a large tree sticking out in the middle, so she obviously moved the cabin a few feet. He had always imagined the tree to give them shade on a hot day. It was rebuilt with rocks from the mountains and it looked beautiful, in its quirky way.

When Damon went inside, Kol was right behind him. The inside was even more different than he thought. There wasn't a bed, instead, it was a big slab of rock with some rags and a makeshift pillow. There wasn't anything modern in it at all. He had already spotted the fire pit outside, but there wasn't one inside.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe my eyes either," Damon said as he looked at the Original. "She never upgraded to the 21st century. There isn't even running water," he said with a snort. "But she did whip up something that gave me a little more time after Tyler bit me so your brother's blood could save me, so there's that." He pushed a large boulder out of the way, revealing the entrance to the basement. "Now, this must be something you'll recognize."

"Yeah, it took me quite some hours to hollow out a cavity and make some stairs," Kol replied as he followed Damon down. Damon lit some torches on the wall, revealing an even bigger area, filled with drawings and words. "And this isn't even everything, she has a whole cave system here, the walls filled with notes, stories and even more notes. I had Alaric translate some of the early runes, but I suppose you don't need it."

"You brought someone else to Isa's private property?"

"Relax! There's a thing called a smartphone. It has a camera. It takes pictures," Damon rolled his eyes at the vampire and pointed at a story. "Your father Mikael was an asshole."

Kol nodded. "That was common knowledge, but he liked her."

"And yet, he burned the cabin down because she wouldn't come out," Damon countered and pointed at another story. "Which was entirely your fault, but she forgave you, knowing that you wouldn't have known."

"When she told me the truth about her death, I didn't know what to think. A part of me believed it had been a good death, she would have died from starvation otherwise."

"Eh, dead is dead. She's really big on forgiveness and helping others. Every few stories, she gets angry, but then she realizes that anger isn't the way of doing things. Her stories about learning how to vampire are quite endearing. She did quite well even without having anyone around to show her the ropes." Damon then moved to another story, still in Nordic Runes. "She knew what you were up to. Granted, the dates don't really follow the dates of it actually happening, but that's because a greater distance had to be crossed for her to get it. You were in France in 1002 or 3. Elijah was being an asshole. Your siblings created their first vampires. You then hid in Italy while the three sired vampires were pretending to be Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah."

"How did she…"

"You know how she knew. It's all a matter of accepting it. Here. In 1111, you had a run in with the Five. 1114, Klaus kills a vampire hunter and goes cray-cray. Stories about you in Africa, Arabia, Uganda…" he pointed at the walls as he ventured deeper into the cave system. "Her wishing that she was at your side, but she also knew that you probably didn't know she was still alive. She could have gone and left Mystic Falls, but she stayed, always hopeful that one day, you'd return." He stopped at a wooden board with newspaper clippings. "Now, I don't know how she got these, but isn't that you, after you and Klaus slaughtered that tenement building in New Orleans?"

"Are you sure she never left Mystic Falls?"

"I think that this proves it all, doesn't it?"

"This is…"

"Amazing, yes. But there's more." Damon turned a corner and pointed at the elaborate schematic on the wall. "I copied this to paper, and checked it out. These are all the trees in these woods. Their locations and their names. The ones she favourited over others, the ones who weren't nice." He pointed at another schematic. "She also has an animal cemetery. Dead birds, the remains of the larger animals she used for their skin. And a list of all their names, as well."

He wasn't sure what to think. All he knew was that Isa had truly made her home here and he had taken her away from it. The only reason why she often fled to nature over the last two years was to try to feel at home. Pretend that she wasn't homesick. "That big tree in the house."

"Yeah, his name is Kol, believe it or not," Damon said as he walked back up the stairs. "Go explore. Isa might come back soon from her swim, although the trees might tell her not to come back because you're here. Check her latest entries and stop being a self-centered asshole. You've got your proof."

~o.O.o~

 _They don't believe me. My beloved doesn't believe me. It's been two years since our reunion and I knew he thought it was strange for me to listen to the whispers, so I tried to hide it from him. Not make it too obvious. I felt a loss, when we started to travel and there weren't any trees at all._

 _It was as if I lost a part of me, but I did it, for my beloved._

 _Los Angeles was alright, Kol chose a home for us near a park, but it wasn't enough._

 _I didn't like New Orleans. There were too many people and too much excitement. And it seemed that only Elijah is in my corner, which is curious, because all the things that I know about my beloved is that he loves witches. He treats them with respect and finds their abilities fascinating. If this is the case, why can't he accept me for who I am?_

 _Is it because I am a vampire and shouldn't be able to talk to nature? Is it true, what the Original witch told me about my heritage? That I'm descended of ancient forest spirits and that that's the reason why the trees started to whisper louder after I became a vampire?_

 _I might have to leave my home behind again. They know where to find me. But I will do it, because if I make myself invisible and alive, then my beloved can roam the Earth freely. That's what Niklaus said. I don't want to leave, but I'm afraid that if I don't, Niklaus will try to find me here and burn the entire forest when he can't._

 _Or maybe, I could ask Damon if his friend can cast a protection spell, so I can stay here._

He had read her entire story twice, and she was still not home. If Damon wanted him to feel even more guilty, then it was mission accomplished. He realized that he had taken her away far too soon after their reunion. This was her life. This is what she'd known and he had taken her away.

Kol knew he was an asshole. He should have taken baby steps with her. Be not only hers, but also her sire. She'd been on her own for so long, had to learn everything on her own, while he had had his family to learn with. Her whole story had been about self sacrifice, kill a human or another person only when needed and nearly always ask permission from an animal to drink from them.

She liked to help people, there were dozens of stories about the Salvatores, rants against Tatia and that she thought she had spotted Tatia again, seeing her mess with _her_ boys. Saving people from some big fire.

She had also written a short note about the night of their reunion; only in Nordic Runes. A church on fire and then a heart breaking next to it. He hadn't known that whatever Elijah had done, had hurt her so. She was fragile, but she was strong. She was amazing and she was everything that he wasn't.

And he tried to change her.

"How's the wallowing going?" Isa's voice sounded from behind him. When he turned around, she was holding a bottle of bourbon. "Damon said you would need this."

Kol looked at the bottle for a moment, before sinking to his knees and looked up to her. "I don't need that bottle… I need…"

She put her arms around him and pulled him close. "I am not angry with you, Kol," she said as she ran her hand through his hair. "Nor am I angry with Niklaus. I simply don't fit in your life anymore, everything has changed."

"No," Kol shook his head as he put his forehead against her chest. "We didn't give you the space to fit into our lives. I didn't give you the space and for that, I am sorry."

"It's alright, Kol."

"No, no, it's not. You should get angry, hit me."

"No."

He took her hand and hit himself on the head with it. He was surprised that she let him.

"Feel better?"

"No."

"Good," she said as she sat down on the ground and pulled him close before opening the bottle of bourbon and taking a sip. "So, what's next?"

"What's next?" He looked at her as he took the bottle and took a sip himself. "Just like that, everything's alright?"

"Everything has always been alright, Kol." She pointed at her walls. "I am used to being the outcast, the forgotten. The weird. The crazy lady getting stones thrown at her when she's taking a bath in the river." Isa sighed as she put her head against his shoulder. "I lie, not everything was alright, but that's because our lives are different."

"And that's going to change. From now on, you call the shots. I'm not leaving you alone again. I will fight for you, you're my family, too. You're part of our family and I've been terrible."

"You're staying then?"

"What? Here?" Kol huffed as he took another swig of the bottle.

"Yes, here. We could still travel, if you wish, but I want this to be our home, as it was intended to be."

Kol scowled. "Fine, but we're going to need a proper bed. And running water."

"There's a river," Isa mused. "And I happen to know a spot nobody frequents… it's great for nudity."

"But you don't object to the bed?"

"No," she grinned as she took the bottle from him and kissed him tenderly. "Welcome home."

~o.O.o~

It was a couple of days later when they finally decided to leave the cabin. They both needed to feed and Kol had a mission or two. "Who's the wisest of the trees?" He asked as he took her hand. "I saw your schematic of the trees, but who was the most important one to you?"

She turned them around and headed back to the cabin.

"Isa!"

"You asked!" She countered with a smile and pointed at the tree sticking out of the cabin. "The most important one of them all is that one. His name is Kol. I named him after you because he refused to give me his name. I rebuilt our home around it so that you'd always be here in spirit."

"And if I wanted to ask him something, how would I do that?"

"Just ask, silly," she smirked as she opened the door so they could go to his trunk. "He won't bite."

He rolled his eyes at her and put his hand on the bark, as he had seen her do on occasion. "Hi, uhm… Kol. It's me, Kol." He felt ridiculously stupid, but the smile on Isa's face made it all worthwhile. "You've probably heard stories about me and I can tell you that they were all true. Also that I'm the biggest asshole ever, but I truly love our Isa. Can I please have your permission to marry her?"

What was even more stupid was that he believed that the tree would talk back to him. When he looked at Isa, she looked at the tree in shock, nodding as she processed the information.

"What?"

"He only has one thing you need to agree to," she said as a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "He wants the right to tell every bird that's ever perched on top of him to kill you if you hurt me."

"I won't hurt you."

"He doesn't know that," she countered and nodded to the tree. "Tell him."

Scowling, Kol turned back to the tree. "Fine. If I hurt her, or if my actions have a direct consequence on her health, you can tell every stupid bird there is to come and find me."

"Then yes, you can ask me for your hand in marriage."

"Oh, thank God," Kol breathed out as he turned to her with a big smile on his face. "Will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Isa looked at him, feigning the look of horror on her face. "You're crazy!"

"I'm serious. Marry me."

She looked at the tree and then at Kol, before nodding. "There's nothing more that I want."


	3. Evil Twin

**Forks. June 4th, 2013**

"Rise and shine, Bella!"

"Ugh," Bella resisted the urge to throw a pillow at her friend's head. Her sunny disposition always were a pain in the ass and just because she was staying at their house, didn't mean that she had to be awakened so rudely. She pushed her hair out of her face as she sat up. "I'm awake."

"Good," Alice nodded with a bright smile. "I put your clothes in the bathroom, and Esmé is making you breakfast. Hurry up, we're leaving for school in 30 minutes."

While she was grateful to the Cullens for taking care of her, she also had the feeling that she was stuck with them. Edward, her boyfriend, had explained a number of times how Bella had lost her memory after a car accident, how her rehabilitation had taken some time and that she had forgotten about it as well. But at times, she felt as if she was suffocating.

They had moved to Forks for Bella's health. The fresh air, the green trees, would do her good. The warm weather in the Southern States only did her harm. On top of that, being in Washington made it easier for the Cullens to be outside, they would sparkle less. Oh yes, she was in a household filled with vampires. That was one of the things she couldn't believe when Edward told her about them.

Vampires weren't real, but they were. They were cold, and their bodies were solid as a rock. Impenetrable. Worst of all, they didn't sleep, which made for very awkward nights. Bella had found out that she didn't like him to watch over her while she slept; she found it creepy.

Things didn't add up, but the family told her that it was because of her accident. That she was going to feel off for a while longer, but that eventually everything would fall into place. Until then, everything was going to be new. And that sucked.

The Cullens were a very hands-on family of vampires. There was Esmé and Carlisle, the parents. Carlisle was a doctor and mostly in charge of Bella's rehabilitation. Esmé's cooking could use some improvement. Emmett, the jock, and his wife Rosalie, a gorgeous woman with cheekbones to die for. Then Alice, who was very fashion forward and could tell the future and her husband Jasper, who could influence someone's emotions. And then there was Edward. Her Edward. He could read thoughts, but for some reason found Bella intriguing as he couldn't read hers.

Bella didn't have to do anything around the house. At first, she thought it was because she was still recovering, but it seemed like it was the norm. Esme would prepare her food and Alice made sure that Bella was always immaculately dressed. The only thing Bella was allowed to do was to shower, get dressed and sleep.

She stumbled out of her bed and made her way into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair into a ponytail before getting dressed in tight fitting jeans and a nice shirt. "Good morning," she said as she walked into the kitchen and as on cue, Esme set down a plate of food in front of her. "Oh, I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat something, sweetheart," she smiled at her. "Brain food, so you can concentrate."

Bella looked at her breakfast. It was a full English breakfast with the baked beans in tomato sauce looking just that, like brains. "I'm sorry, it just… makes me feel sick to my stomach."

Edward sat down next to her and caressed her hair. "Eat something, love," he said softly. "We don't want you to take a bite out of our fellow students because you get hungry, do we?" He teased her as he pushed the plate towards her. "You get cranky when you get hungry."

"Why do you care? The worst thing that could happen is me passing out."

Edward looked at his mother and then at his father. "Maybe she's not ready to go back to school just yet," he said carefully. "Can't you just homeschool her? We'll go to school and-"

"Edward, Bella is more than ready to go back to school," Carlisle said gently and put his arm around his wife. "If we keep her locked away from the world for much longer, she might start crawling the walls. You don't need to worry, Jasper's in her class."

"He's not going to mind rape me," Bella said with a scowl, but started to eat her breakfast anyway the moment he entered the kitchen. "Fucker." She had a severe dislike to Jasper because he could switch her mood just like that. And it sucked. He could make her do things she didn't want to do, and that sucked even more.

Edward had explained to her that Jasper wasn't taking any pleasure out of it either, but that it was a necessity as something in her brain was damaged. Something she didn't quite understand, but without Jasper's influence, she would have had to be admitted into a hospital, and she disliked that too.

She had thought it many times before, but she was in hell. Literal hell and there was no escaping it, because they would find her. If she'd leave, they'd track her down. Vampires were excellent trackers. Maybe it was scare tactics, but she knew about them now. She knew how their world worked, and now her life was in danger because of it. Maybe by going to school, she could sneakily figure out if she was missing, like one of those people on milk cartons.

And apparently, paranoia was part of the deal too. As were hallucinations. For a while she had believed that the trees had been talking to her. As if. The Cullens were good people, and they weren't out to get her; they only wanted what was best for Edward's girlfriend, and short of turning her, this was the best that they could do.

She polished off her plate and downed her cranberry juice, feeling a lot better than before. "Okay, let's do this."

~o.O.o~

She ignored the whispering of the trees as Edward drove them to school. They weren't real, it was all in her head. But she liked Forks. She could do without the cold, but the shrubbery was absolutely wonderful, until Edward drove into town. "I don't think I'm ready."

"Don't worry, Bella," he smiled at her as he pulled onto the parking lot. "Nobody knows you here, nobody knows us. Fresh start."

"Yeah but it's one thing to have to deal with a small group of people and then 100s, I don't think I'm ready."

"Don't be scared, we're all here. The first sign of trouble, we're getting you home." He parked the car and kissed the top of her head. "Let's become the coolest kids in school."

Bella wondered if the accident had caused her to forget how to do school, too. Their first class was math, and she couldn't make any sense out of it. There were numbers and letters and sure, she pretended to work, to listen, but she didn't understand any of it. Her neighbor was a girl called Lauren, and she kept shooting Bella glances, almost as if she knew that Bella was dumb. Or crazy.

Instead of taking notes, because Bella didn't know what they were talking about anyway, she was drawing trees. And there were outlines of a small cabin. She hadn't known she could draw, and found it fascinating how detailed it was. Tuning out the rest of the class, she spent the rest of the period on her drawing.

The next class was history, and like math, she decided to try to pay attention to it. At least it weren't numbers she had to be dealing with. But, as a plan B, she pulled out her drawing anyway. When she opened the book to the page number the teacher gave them, she started to read, and for some reason, the words warmed her heart.

It was about the European settlers in the Americas, how it truly started in the 1400's. But that wasn't right, she knew that for a fact. Something inside of her knew that the book, and the teacher was wrong. How could she be so stupid? "Excuse me," Bella spoke up as she raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Swan?"

"If we're being taught about the Europeans coming to America, shouldn't the chapter, or your story, for that matter, start with how the Vikings fled Scandinavia to avoid the plague? They reached our shores at the beginning of the 10th century. Most of them went for Canada or Greenland, but there were also a few ships who didn't make it that far, and peacefully settled in Virginia, for example."

"But that's not an important part of history, Ms. Swan."

"But it is. The story is so much more than just Christopher Columbus, who was a hack, by the way," that remark got the entire classroom to snicker, except for Edward, who didn't look amused at all. "The Norse Colony in Greenland lasted for nearly 500 years before conflict eventually caused them to flee. There was also a small colony in Virginia that bloomed into a somewhat larger village, but conflict with their native neighbors caused almost the entire village to die. This was all centuries before you and the book claim that the Europeans came to America. And it's just every bit important as your stories about Columbus."

"What proof do you have?"

Bella huffed. "The proof is written on the cave walls. To hide from their assailants, the settlers created caves, sometimes a whole cave system, well hidden from view. They wrote their stories in Norse runes. Carved it in with knives or sharp stones."

"Bella's a little bit of a history buff," Edward smiled kindly, but she could detect agitation in his voice. "Forgive her, she gets too excited about things like that."

Not being deterred by Edward, Bella continued. "In 1837, a Danish antiquarian pointed out that the works of Adam of Bremen from 1075. The works told about early settlements in Winland, the Viking's name for what we now know as North America."

"Bella, that's enough," Edward snapped. "You're embarrassing the teacher and yourself."

"Stop calling me Bella," she snapped back at him. "You know I hate that name."

"I think this is highly interesting," the teacher said as she sat down on top of her desk. "You see, Norse history, especially those of the Vikings, are a speciality of mine. Well, more like a hobby, and what you said, is correct." She then looked at the entire class. "Take a lesson from this, everyone. Not everything you need to know is found in school books. I want a ten page essay on the time before Columbus and you might have to go to the library to find what you need. If you copy from wikipedia, I will know." When the school bell rang, she hopped off her desk. "Isabella, Edward, please stay behind."

"We don't need to," Edward kindly smiled at the teacher as he held on to Bella. "Bella's not feeling too well, obviously, I should take her to the school nurse."

"Just because she's excitable doesn't mean she's not feeling well," the teacher took Bella's hand and smiled at her. "Please, tell me more… Oh! What about the werewolf lore? What do you think about that? Was that truth or fiction?"

"In Greenland?"

"Don't answer that, Bella, let's go," Edward said as he started to pull her away from the teacher.

"No, Virginia," the teacher wasn't letting go of Bella either. "Some local teenagers stumbled upon a cave there that told a story about a werewolf colony."

"Really?" Bella blinked, getting excited. "Oh, that is so cool!"

"Tell you what. Come by my office tomorrow and we can go over some of the pictures. I don't have them with me right now but I promise, you're going to get a kick out of it."

"No, Bella's not coming by your office tomorrow," Edward said with a growl. "Please let go of her before I file a complaint at the principal's office."

The teacher let go of Bella and put her hands in the air. "Fine, but just because she's smarter than you, doesn't mean you should get jealous," she said amused. "And I am still your teacher, Edward Cullen, you don't get to make demands."

~o.O.o~

 **Forks, June 5th, 2013**

He had taken Bella home after the stunt she pulled in history. Edward had put her in her room and had left her there. She didn't mind. It had been great to get excited about something again, it was almost as if a spark had ignited in her brain and she suddenly knew about Norse history. Edward had never told her that she liked it before the accident.

She spent the rest of the day looking out of her window, with the window wide open as she finished her drawing. The whispers of telling her that she was in danger were pushed to the back of her head, because they weren't real. They were insistent, but they weren't real.

Edward took her to the principal's office that morning before school after Carlisle had told him to make a formal complaint, and was surprised to find the history teacher already present in the office. "Mr. Cullen! What can I do for you?" The principal greeted him with a smile. "Do you know that you make a bad impression when you go to a new school on the first day and then only take part in two classes?"

"Bella wasn't feeling too well, sir," Edward countered as Bella scowled next to him. "You see, she's been in a bad car accident a few weeks ago and if she gets excited, she gets dizzy."

"I do not," she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I see. Does this have anything to do with what you wished to speak to me about, Ms. Salvatore?" The principal said, looking at the teacher. "You started to say something about Mr. Cullen being less than friendly towards his friend."

"He was," she confirmed, looking over at Edward. "Isabella wished to stay behind to discuss her favourite history topic with me, and he was absolutely insistent on leaving and not wanting to leave her with me. As a teacher, I'm concerned about his influence in my classroom."

"I understand. Mr. Cullen?"

"Ms. Salvatore took things too far with Bella," Edward said in his polite voice. "My father wrote you a letter, specifically instructing you not to allow teachers to stimulate her like that."

"He did?" The principal said, looking through his stack of papers. "Oh, you mean this one where he wants to squelch Ms. Swan's intellectual growth?" He held up the paper and looked at Edward.

Bella was confused. "Why did Carlisle do that? I thought he wanted me back in school?"

"He does, but he still wants you to take it easy, love," Edward said kindly, caressing her back.

"Well, that's stupid," she huffed as she reached for the piece of paper and ripped it. "There. No more letter." She then turned to Edward. "And if you don't get your hands off me, I will break them!"

"You skipped breakfast."

"Yes," she said with a growl.

"We need to go home."

"No."

"What you need, Mr. Cullen," the principal spoke as he reached for another piece of paper and handed it to him. "Is to get to class. I hope you don't mind, I switched things around for you so that the both of you no longer share a class together. Nor does she share a class with any of your siblings."

Edward scowled as he looked at the teacher, who was watching him with a big smile on her face before she waved at him. "You don't want to be late, now, do you? I'll make sure she'll have something to eat before her class starts."

"No, you won't. She has a special diet. I'm calling my father and this is not over."

"Get to class, Mr. Cullen."

"I'll be fine," Bella sighed as she looked at Edward. "Go already. I'll see you between classes."

"I don't like this," Edward stomped off to find his sister. Something wasn't feeling right, they needed to take Bella out of class. He hadn't been able to get a read on the history teacher and the principal's thoughts were scrambled too. Something was up. Bella was in danger.

Bella watched as Edward walked off and closed the door. She then turned to the teacher and the principal and sighed. "Do I get a schedule change too?"

"No," Ms. Salvatore smiled at her. "You're exempt from your first class, as it's math and we need to talk."

"I don't like math."

"Yeah, I figured that, come." She said as she lead Bella to a different room, an empty classroom before getting something out of her bag and lit it. "There. Now we can talk without anyone overhearing us."

Bella looked at the teacher, confused. "What is that?"

"Oh, it's a sage stick. Combined with the spell I just cast, we're now basically in Fort Knox. No vampire hearing and all."

"You know of vampires?"

"Yes. And I happen to know you're with a bunch of dangerous ones right now," Ms. Salvatore leaned against the desk. "You're in danger, Isa. I'm here to help."

She blinked upon hearing the name Isa. "What did you just call me?"

"Isa."

Bella hummed in appreciation. "Sounds good."

"Because that's your name," Ms. Salvatore smiled at her. "Now, first things first. Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"Neither," Bella replied as she sat down on a chair. "I skipped breakfast because it makes me feel sick. Carlisle devised a special diet for me and it's gross. I do like cranberry juice though, so I had that this morning."

"Hmm…" Ms. Salvatore rummaged through her bag and produced a small carton of cranberry juice. "Here you go."

"Thank you," she smiled at her, putting the straw in the carton and took a sip. "Oh, that is disgusting!"

"You said you liked cranberry juice," the teacher snorted and pointed at the carton. "That's it."

"No, it's not. It doesn't have the hint of copper it's supposed to have, nor does it soothe the burning. In fact, this doesn't burn at all, so I don't know what this is but…" she wrinkled her nose as she handed the carton back. "Thanks but no thanks. How do you know about the vampires? Have you any idea in what danger you're in by simply knowing about them?"

The teacher pointed at the sage stick. "I'm not afraid of them," she set the carton down and retrieved a blood bag from her bag. "You know what this is?"

"That's blood."

"Yes. I brought it just in case."

She blinked as she saw the delighted look on her teacher's face. "That's disgusting, why would you do such a thing?"

"Uhuh," she said as she ripped the bag open at the top. "How does it smell? This is a delicious bag of AB negative. Would you want it?"

Bella couldn't control herself as she lunged for the bag and started to drink it out of instinct. This was stupid, this was gross. This wasn't happening, but it tasted so good. It was absolutely delicious and she moaned in pleasure. "What's going on?" She muttered as she continued to empty the bag, squeezing it dry to the last drop.

"How do you feel?"

"Stronger."

"Good, I'll bring a bag in every day."

"What's going on?" Bella repeated as she wiped her mouth from the blood, before licking it off her hand as she wanted more.

"You're a vampire. The Cullens gave you just enough blood to stop you from desiccating and that's just not right," Ms. Salvatore took the bag and put it back in her purse. "Now, Isa, this is important. You're not going to bite any student in this school, do you understand?"

"Why would I want to bite someone?" She asked as she blinked. Was she a vampire? Like Edward? But he fed on animals and that was definitely not animal blood.

"Yes. I've been told that when you get upset or angry or in a complete meltdown, you like to eat churches full of people. Don't let them know you know you're a vampire. Play along with their little game until we know more. While we'd rather pull you out now, we don't think that will be good for you."

"What?"

"Can't talk anymore, it's time to go to class," Ms. Salvatore said as she extinguished the sage stick. "Keep this a secret."

Bella spent the rest of the day confused, lost in thought, as she tried to wrap her mind around things. She wasn't sure what was going on and it was very possible she'd been hallucinating. Dreaming. Yes. That was it. Her encounter this morning with Ms. Salvatore hadn't been real. It had been wish fulfilment. But what if it wasn't? What if everything she experienced was real? That she was misplaced, that she was a vampire and that the trees were talking to her? Well, maybe the trees weren't, but everything else?

Edward was fuming between classes, making sure she was still in one piece and by the end of the day, she had wanted to rip his head off, but it was as if the history teacher could sense that she was about to snap and pulled her aside to remind her to stay calm and collected. Bella wanted to rip out her heart for saying that. There wasn't a good reason for her to do so, other than it getting Bella into even more danger than she already was.

But now that she was a vampire, her chances of surviving the Cullens just got bigger.

When they got back to the house, Jasper was checking his phone as he received messages on it and she noticed how his pale complexion even tured more pale. Bella headed straight to her room to do research. If she was a vampire, she wasn't a Cold One. Her skin wasn't marble and she had checked, she wasn't shimmering in the sun either.

Jasper came to get her for dinner time, and much to her surprise, she didn't feel his intrusion on her mind, which confused her even more. It caused him to smile knowingly and escort her to the kitchen.

She had found references about ancient vampires who looked like humans in every way. Mostly the lore of Dracula. Most vampires in modern day fiction were the same; garlic was bad, holy crosses were bad. Like walking in sunlight. It would cause vampires to combust. And yet, she had no problems with it at all. She was going to have to ask Ms. Salvatore about it.

Now that she was aware of what blood tasted like, she could taste a trace in her meal and in her cranberry juice, but her cranberry juice still burned, as if something else was added to it. She had gotten used to the burn over the last few months, she remembered how hard it was to drink it, but seeing as the Cullens wouldn't give her anything else, it was what she had to deal with.

"Don't worry, Bella," Carlisle said gently. "I shall have a talk with the principal tomorrow to get Edward back in your class. He said you were feeling quite miserable without him."

No, she didn't. She didn't even like school. She spent her hours drawing instead of paying attention. If this was all for show, then why actively try to keep up the charade? It wasn't as if she knew what was going on anyway. Biology didn't make sense. Neither did Spanish. She accidentally caused a bloody nose at some girl during sports. She was miserable because she didn't understand. Not because of a lack of Edward. In fact, she did a better job at keeping up appearances without him breathing down her neck.

"Jasper volunteered to stay behind while we go out hunting," Carlisle said to Bella as she finished her plate.

"Okay, but can I please have some more juice? Or food? I'm starving," she said as she pushed her plate away from her. Esme's cooking wasn't great, but she needed more.

"No, you've had enough," Carlisle laughed. "But it's a good thing that your appetite is returning, Bella. It's what we've been waiting for."

The moment the family left the house, was the moment where she started to look around for food. Or alcohol. Anything. But the Cullens didn't eat or drink. She was just about to give up when Jasper caught her snooping around. "I'm sorry, I'm-"

"Looking for this?" Jasper smiled at her as he held up a blood bag.

She hesitated before grabbing the bag and started to drink. "Sorry," she muttered, knowing that human blood didn't go well with Jasper and that he was probably fighting his urges. "How did you…"

"We know you're a vampire, Bella. That's the whole point of your special diet. They give you enough not to dry up," he said kindly as he sat down. "Passing you off as a human sounded better in Carlisle's mind as you're not like us."

"Okay," she said with the bag still on her lips.

"Now I'm curious about how you know."

"That's a secret," she said as she licked her lips. There was still some blood left in the bag, but she realized she'd been too greedy. "You know who I am then?"

"I do."

"And the car accident was a simple excuse?"

"Yes."

"Was any of it real?"

"To you? Yes."

"No, it wasn't," Bella replied as she started to pace around the room. "Things didn't add up, small things. And when I put all those small things together, it became a huge thing. So, why can't I remember who I am? What did you do to me?"

"I don't know the specifics. I do have to admit that Emmett and I were part of the team that removed you from your family because you're something special. It's not unheard of for a Cold One to have a special gift. Edward with his mindreading, Alice with her visions… but for a vampire like yourself? The Volturi wanted Carlisle to observe you. By pretending you're human and actively weakening you with your diet, he's doing just that."

She decided she couldn't wait to finish her blood bag and finished it. "Tell me why I'm not killing you."

"Because up until earlier this evening, I had no idea who you were. Now that I know, I realize that we are in danger and I want to save my own skin. So I'm on your side now."

"Traitor," she tossed the blood bag at him. "Is my name Isa?"

"Yes."

"Do I have to keep guessing about who I am or are you going to tell me?"

He laughed at that. "I'm sorry, darlin', but you need to figure that out for yourself. But after what happened in history yesterday, and after what I've told you now, I think that you'll figure it out sooner or later."

"Why do I need to figure it out for myself?"

"I have no idea. As I said, Carlisle didn't go into specifics about that."

She had a strong urge to kill him, but fought it. With Jasper being able to manipulate emotions, he was her strongest ally. He could keep her safe while she figured things out. "If I google vampire Isa, will I show up in the results?"

"No."

~o.O.o~

 **Forks, June 6th, 2013**

Isa looked at the burning sage stick as it burned and looked at Ms. Salvatore. "My name is Isa and I'm a vampire. I know that the Cullens are holding me against my will and for some reason made up this thing that I was in a car crash and lost my memories as a part of that."

"Car crash? Well, that's new," the teacher said as she handed Bella a bag of blood. "What else?"

"Jasper Cullen has switched sides and is now protecting me," she looked at the bag of blood. "Not that I'm not grateful, or anything, but why should I trust you? I have a feeling that I shouldn't trust you."

"You don't like me very much, but that's okay. I'd do anything for my family, even if it means keeping an eye on my almost sister-in-law."

"Your what?" She nearly spat out the blood in shock.

"Sister-in-law. You're engaged to my brother. You were celebrating it in Virginia when they took you. He was out for a quick snack and when he returned, you were gone."

"Just how old am I?"

"Old," she replied with a smile. "I wish I could tell you more, but I can't."

"Jasper said the same thing."

"Did he say anything about what they've done to you?"

"No," Isa felt her face change as she tore through the bag. "I'm still not even sure if I'm hallucinating all of this or not. It could very well be a trick of the mind, yet another side effect of the head trauma that I got from the crash."

"That is indeed something you need to figure out," Ms. Salvatore agreed. "What does your instinct tell you?"

"Well, that things are wrong, but then I rationalize and remember what Carlisle said, that it's part of the injury and then I don't know."

"You should listen to the trees for guidance."

Isa laughed. "Yes, now I'm sure that I'm hallucinating." She handed her the half empty bag. "I don't want this anymore, this is stupid."

"What are you feeling?"

"That I need to create as much distance between you and me to feel safe. That I want out. Away. Gone. Hiding. I don't know."

"Good. Do it."

"No!" she blurted. "Because they will find me and they will bring me back."

"So? You're strong enough to hold your own against them," she said encouragingly, mildly pushing her. "Do whatever you need to find yourself again. I'm even willing to schedule a last minute class trip to Virginia to explore the Viking caves you talked about in class the other day."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Ms. Salvatore," she said defensively. "I suggest you start minding your own business before you get killed." She grabbed her bag and left the classroom, bumping into Alice as she turned the corner. "What!" Bella snapped.

"Easy, Bella," Alice said soothingly. "Are you alright? What's made you so upset? Is it the teacher?"

Bella looked at Alice and counted to ten. All she saw was a head she could screw off a body and to do that in the middle of a school hallway, was not a good plan. "Yes. It was a discussion gone awry about some Viking stuff," she replied as she tried to remain composed.

"Really? Because I couldn't hear a word that was going on inside that classroom," Edward said as he joined his sister's side. "In any case, don't let her get to you like that. It's unbecoming."

Bella growled as she pushed Edward against the nearest wall with a loud bang. "You know what's unbecoming? Trying to control me."

"Bella!" Alice gasped. "You let go of him right this instant! Edward and I are only looking out for you! Clearly you're not alright, maybe we should take you home. Give you some rest."

She grabbed Alice by the throat as she started to see red. Just the idea of destroying the pixie filled her heart with glee. No one was touching Isa. No one. There was only one person for her and he wasn't here, and she didn't know who he was, either. But it wasn't Edward.

Alice grabbed her throat once Bella was on the floor and looked at Jasper. "Why did you do that!"

"Because Edward wasn't doing anything and she was just about to rip your throat out," Jasper countered as he lifted the limp body of the vampire and flung her over his shoulder. "I'm taking her to the woods, have her wake up, calm her down and take her to Carlisle."

"Yeah, do that. Make sure he straps her down and put her under, she's regressing," Alice sneered.

"It's that teacher," Edward pointed out.

"No shit, Sherlock," Jasper rolled his eyes at him and marched out of the school.

~o.O.o~

She sat up and glared at Jasper before looking at where they were. The woods. He hadn't taken her home, he hadn't killed her and they weren't in school. And most importantly, she still felt that rage coursing through her body, so he hadn't messed with her head, either. She kept staring at him, not willing to be the first person to speak up. He had snapped her neck, he should apologize.

"You would have torn her head off."

"That was the idea," Bella said angrily. "I am sick and tired of playing games. No one is giving me the answers that I need and until then, I'm stuck with you."

"You need to calm down. I can't take you home like this."

"There is no calming down!" Bella fumed as she got to her feet and started to pace around the clearing. "And you know why? I've learned that I've been living a lie for months! I wasn't in a car crash, I was taken. By you! All the things I've been told are preventing me from remembering who I am because for some reason, for every feeling that I have, there's an explanation! If murdering Alice or Edward or Carlisle or whomever will solve that for me, then you should allow me to!"

"But it won't solve anything," he said calmly, as he watched the vampire. She was pacing around like a caged animal, feral, wild. Dangerous now that she was souped up on human blood. The vervain in her system was enough to keep her from being compelled, but not enough to weaken her. He was sure that Alice and Edward would tell Carlisle what happened at school and he would up the dosage. Maybe put her under again.

Her anger was justified, it was pure, as was her heart. However, if she didn't calm down, he was going to have to use his ability. Despite her age, she still could be killed once subdued enough and that would result in his death. And that wasn't going to happen. "Isa, you need to calm down on your own, or I will have to help you. Find your control."

Maybe taking her to the woods hadn't been such a great idea. He knew that she could still hear the whispers, her connection to nature was the only thing that Carlisle struggled with to get tucked away, but she had been told that they were hallucinations. Jasper feared for a complete overload.

But perhaps the complete overload wasn't such a bad thing. She was far away from civilisation, he could control her emotions and there wasn't a lot of hurt that she could do. Maybe if she'd start listening to what surrounded her, she would be able to get back to herself in a much quicker way.

"Focus and listen. What do you hear?"

"Nothing," she said as she stopped and looked at him. "The rustling of leaves, the tiny feet of animals. The wind. Your poor attempt of trying to look like you're breathing."

"What else? What about the whispers?"

"Don't, Jasper. Don't," she warned him. "Those aren't real. Carlisle said. They're not real."

"And everything that Carlisle has told you has been a lie, so start listening to those whispers, Isa Karlsdotter, or I will have to use my gift on you before I bring you home."

She hit the nearest tree in her rage, and watched as it snapped in half. Immediately she could feel a tightness in her chest, almost as if she had committed the crime of the century and put her arms around it before it fell on the ground. "No, no, no, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," she said as tears fell down her face. She tried to put it back in its place and held on to it. "I didn't mean to, please, reattach, please, please…"

He reeled from the emotional rollercoaster that Isa was on. Her anger was now replaced by deep sadness and concern. She truly felt sorry for hurting the tree, but there was nothing she could do about it. The tree was broken. "Let it go, Isa."

"No!" She held on to the tree, holding it in place as she placed her head against the trunk and then she heard its screams. Its agony. Mark, the tree, was in so much pain, it was crippling her as she held on, trying to soothe him. But it was too much. She had to let go to stop feeling as if every fibre in her body was on fire, and that meant that she had murdered a tree in cold blood.

Isa gently lowered the trunk to the ground, placing it neatly next to the stump before caressing what was left of the tree. "I am so sorry, Mark," she whispered. "I shouldn't have done that. I am so sorry. No, this is unforgivable. I'm the last person who should have cut you down. Please, try to grow back," she sobbed as she kept caressing the stump.

He watched in awe as she talked to the tree as if it was a real person, as if she was now listening. He could work with her sadness, tell Carlisle that she got sad because she hates it that she can't remember things, or that she feels stupid in school for not understanding the subject matter anymore. It made the house a safer place for all of them.

It didn't take away the fact that the whole scene was heartbreaking. She had rediscovered a part of herself, and in her mind, had to do the unspeakable to do so. On the other hand, this was good. She was on the road back. Maybe he could have Carlisle tell him why it would be wrong for her to have her memories back in one go - other than that she'd probably kill them all.

He started to pick up another person's emotions and decided that he and Isa had to head home. "We need to go," he said as he tried to pry her off the tree, but she was holding on to it for dear life. "Come on."

"I want to stay outside," she was still sobbing. "I need to heal him."

"You already have, come on. We're not alone."

"I don't care! Mark needs me right now!"

Jasper sighed as he started to pry her fingers off the stump one by one. "Don't make me influence you."

"Go away," she said as she pushed him away, flinging him across the clearing.

"Oh, careful, you nearly took my head off with that one," a voice sounded as he emerged from the trees. "But I guess I had it coming."

Isa looked up as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I know you."

"I sure hope so, otherwise I'm not sure what I'm doing here," he smirked as he pushed the Cold One down again and continued to walk to Isa. "I saw your little spat with the tree."

"I didn't mean to."

"I know. I did mean to kick Ezekiel through the woods though, and you scolded me for that, so I know your pain."

"You don't."

"Oh, you let me know the pain quite well, oh woodnymph of mine," he said with a grin and squatted down next to her. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"I know that."

"Good. So, what's my name?" He pushed a strand of hair out of her face and looked at her, hopeful that she'd remember. "Come on, don't make me wait. I know it's in your head somewhere."

"Are you my history teacher's brother?"

"What the fuck is Stefan doing out here?" Damon blinked at her. "I told him to hold the fort!"

"No, no, the blonde lady."

"Rebekah? Is that her name?"

"I don't know. I only know her as Ms. Salvatore."

"Oh, sounds intriguing," Damon said amused. "I guess I'll have to go to school tomorrow to check her out. Is she hot?"

"Isn't she your sister? She claims to be my almost sister-in-law, so am I engaged to you?"

He blinked at that and then started to laugh, falling backwards into the grass and kept laughing. "Oh man, I haven't laughed so much in ages!" He hiccuped. "Oh, that's good… I can't wait until Stefan hears about this. Or your actual fiancé… although he'd kill me."

"So you're not."

"Of course not! Don't get me wrong, you're hot, but you're not my type. Besides, you broke my dick, there was no way in hell I was going to allow you anywhere near me like that!"

"I thought two legs and two boobs were your type," Jasper piped up as he moved beside Isa. "Damon."

"Jazzy pants, good to see you again."

"Asshole."

"The feeling's mutual, dickface."

"Wait," Isa said confused as she looked between the two. "You two know each other?"

"Not by choice," Damon winced. "As it turned out, we have a mutual friend who forces us to be buddies from time to time…"

"And your name is Damon."

"Yeah but that doesn't count, he told you," he said with a grin and got to his feet. "Now, you both better hurry along now, Ms. Salvatore sent me a text message saying that the rest of the Cullens left school as well."

"So you do know her," Isa pointed out.

"No, I've never met the woman, but I guess she's a witch and she's on my… our, side. So… yeah… I know of her, but I've never met her." He then turned to Jasper. "Speaking of witches, my witch has said to tread lightly. Not to push her that much. The thing that you just pulled? That was pushing too much. Last time she was sent into an overload, she slaughtered an entire church filled with people."

"And that's why we're in the middle of the woods," Jasper pointed out. "I know how unstable she is, I can feel it. There's plenty of wildlife for her to take down, and unfortunately she took it out on a tree."

"Oh! Mark!" Isa cried out, her attention diverted back to the tree and went back to it to pet it.

"What?"

"Oh, don't worry, Mark will be fine," Damon huffed, waving it away.

"What?"

"Dude, she talks to trees."

"I know that."

"She talks to trees and Ezekiel is doing better now."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Peachy. As long as she stays away from my dick."

~o.O.o~

 **Forks, June 10th, 2013**

Bella yawned and tried to stretch herself as the sunlight caressed her face and woke her. It was a beautiful day, indeed. She looked out the window and smiled. The sky was bluer than blue and there was barely any wind. Maybe she was allowed outside for a little bit today.

"Good Morning, Bella," Edward's voice sounded. "How are you feeling?"

"Happy," she smiled at him as he came into focus. "Fine, really. Can we go outside today?"

"Maybe, if there's some shade," he pushed her hair out of her face before undoing her restraints. "Let's start with coming downstairs for breakfast."

She allowed herself to be pulled up and she felt slightly weak in the knees, but Bella was thankful that Edward kept her upright. It had been an interesting couple of days and she couldn't remember much, but Edward had told her that she had some mental breakdown, related to a car accident she had been in. They had to restrain her because the medicine they had given her caused some side effects and they had been worried that she'd hurt herself.

But Bella didn't remember the rest, and that was alright. She wasn't going to be forced to remember, because they would love her anyway for the rest of her life. The Cullens were going to take care of her like they had before, no matter how bad things would get with her. She should feel lucky that she hadn't been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Yes. She felt lucky. She felt happy. Content. Safe.

"Good Morning, Bella," Carlisle greeted her. Dr. Cullen was amazing. He was kind and he was knowledgeable. And Bella was in his debt. Any other person would have told her to go away after she'd shown some issues after her accident, but he took care of her. He didn't want to leave her on her own as she didn't have anybody. "You remember Corin, don't you?"

"Hi," she greeted her with a nod. Corin was a nurse, a befriended nurse from Italy and she had come over to help Carlisle with Bella's treatment. And that was fine, she was a nice lady. She remembered another nurse, but it appeared that she was no longer needed and had left. Bella gratefully dug into the breakfast that Esme had made for her and greedily drank her cranberry juice. She loved cranberry juice, it tasted ever so sweet, but with a little after burn to wake her up.

"I was thinking of taking Bella out on the patio this afternoon," Edward spoke up. "To try to get some color back on her face."

"I don't think that's the best idea, Edward. Bella is still weak. But, we could play some boardgames today, wouldn't that be fun, Bella?"

"That sounds like fun, I'm good with whatever you decide." She watched as Corin excused herself and then longingly looked at her now empty glass of juice. "Can I have some more juice, please?"

"No, sweetheart, we don't want you to get an upset stomach."

She nodded slowly and thought for a moment. "Can I have some water, then?"

"Of course."

Water didn't quench her thirst. Maybe she wasn't feeling too well, still. "I uhm… I'm going back to bed," Bella said softly as she retreated to the bedroom, followed closely by Edward, making sure that she wouldn't pass out on the way there.

The next thing she knew was hearing a lot of crashing and falling of things and noises, startled, she looked at Edward, who had a concerned look on his face. "What's going on?"

"We're under attack," Edward managed to say before he lifted Bella off the bed and gently put her in a closet. He handed her her blanket and her pillow. "Stay here until I come and get you, do you understand?"

She nodded as she watched the door close. All she could hear were shouts, followed by more crashing and shattering of things. It seemed to go on for a very long time, she wasn't quite sure for how long, but she could feel her heart beat in her chest, desperately wanting to jump out of there. "Where is she! Find her!" She could hear someone demand and Bella felt a chill run down her spine. They were looking for her, weren't they?

She hid underneath her blanket and tried to crawl deeper into the closet. She was so scared, so unbelievably scared. But Edward would make sure they couldn't get to her. The rest of the Cullens would make sure, wouldn't they? They were strong and indestructible. Why would anyone want her? Bella wasn't anyone special. Maybe they were from the hospital and they would take her away, lock her away for good, because she wasn't right in the head, she knew that, but Carlisle had done everything in his power to make sure she could stay.

She wanted to stay. "Please, Edward, make sure they don't get to me," she whispered from underneath her blanket.

"Bella."

"Jasper!" Bella crawled out of her hiding spot and saw his bloodied appearance. "What… what happened?"

"It's okay," he smiled at her and lifted her in his arms. "You're safe, I'm sorry we had to do it this way," Jasper grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around her. Knowing that she was going to be upset, he gently nudged her mind into a nice, peaceful state. "But there wasn't any other way."

"What do you mean?" She put her arms around his neck and looked around as he walked through the house with her. She could see body parts belonging to the family all over. "Jasper, what happened? Are they… where's Edward?"

She started to struggle against his hold, and even though she'd been put through the mental and physical wringer, he was glad that she was so weak, it was easier to transport her like that. He could feel how she fought his calming influence, and it took a lot of him to make sure she wouldn't shut down or flip out. "Sorry, darlin', I'm the only one left standing. They came out of nowhere."

"Who did?"

"Never mind that, you're safe now. I'm going to take you to a place where you'll be safe."

~o.O.o~

 **Mystic Falls, June 12th, 2013**

"Where are we?" Bella asked as Jasper carried her through the woods. He had slipped some blood in her drink along the way. It was hard for him to control himself, but he did it. He didn't want to end up like the rest of his family.

Jasper now understood why Damon had called the Original vampire the Happy Homicidal Maniac. Watching him tear into Edward was brutal, what was worse was that he used Edward's arm to separate Alice's head from her torso and continued his violent rampage. Damon and Jasper simply had to make sure no one ran. It was hard, to watch his family getting slaughtered like that, and if he hadn't changed his mind, he would have ended up the same way.

The Mikaelsons and the sired one had managed to figure out what exactly Carlisle had done to Isa, and that there were only two options for her to recover. One; she was going to have to remember everything all by herself, push through the boundaries that had been set up in her mind or two; wait until the vervain was out of her system and invade her mind to break down the barriers, but that would severely hurt. Something her fiancé didn't want to happen.

For now, they went with option one, and the first step would be to bring her back to the place that she called home. Jasper wasn't quite sure where the cabin was, and he wasn't really allowed to know other than that it was in these woods. He understood why. It was for Isa's protection. "I'm going to leave you in the care of a friend of mine," he spoke as he stopped in the middle of a clearing. "This is for your own protection while I find the ones responsible for killing my family."

"But…"

"Trust me, Bella," he smiled at her. "You're going to be perfectly safe with him. He knows about your accident and your relapse, and he promised me that he could fix you."

"But Carlisle said…"

"What can I say? This guy is a miracle worker," he gently set her down on the ground. "I wouldn't leave you with him if I didn't completely trust him." Jasper then pointed at the trees around them. "These trees will keep you safe as well. And it may sound silly, but if you listen closely, you can hear them talk to you."

"I'm not a child, Jasper," she rolled her eyes at him and watched as a man emerged from the shadows. "Is that him?" The man was tall and he had a handsome face, she could see that he had a forced smile on his face, but it was handsome. If it hadn't been for the loss of Edward that she was still dealing with, she would even go as far as the man being boyfriend material.

"Bella, this is Kol Mikaelson and he's going to take care of you."

"Hello, darling," Kol greeted her. He hadn't liked the plan, but Freya thought this was the best way possible to save his Isa. But it hurt when there was no hint of recognition in her eyes. It made him want to kill the Cullens all over again. Maybe even start with Jasper. Despite his change of heart, he still had had a hand in taking her away in the first place. "You must feel exhausted from your journey."

Her heart skipped a beat. He had an English accent and it was beautiful. His voice sounded kind, heavenly. She trusted him, and didn't need Jasper to tell her that he was trustworthy. She felt a sense of peace, serenity, in his presence. And that wasn't Jasper's influence either. Bella let go of Jasper to walk towards him, but wobbled and nearly fell. If it wasn't for Kol catching her, she'd have fallen on the floor.

"Look at that, already falling for me," he said with a grin as he scooped her up into his strong arms and then looked at Jasper. "Thank you."

Jasper nodded. "Keep her safe," he then turned around and sped off to where he had left the car.

"Welcome to Mystic Falls," Kol said to her as he started to walk towards the cabin. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, she looked terrible. They had been so close in getting her back a few days ago, but much to his frustration, Carlisle had been on to them. The house went into lockdown mode and while Kol wanted to go in and take her then, Damon had insisted that they'd wait, after seeing Isa's state of mind. Now that he saw her for himself, he knew that they had quite a way to go.

While the journey to the cabin didn't take long at all, by the time they arrived, she had fallen asleep in his arms. His tiny Isa. His beloved. But he was a stranger to her.

He tucked her into bed and shot off a message to Damon to get some human food down to the cabin. He wanted to give her blood, immediately, but she could get defensive about it and she could shut down. Kol didn't want that to happen so until the moment would come up, he was going to have to play along.

And that sucked. He wanted to pump her full of blood and take her to the caverns below, to show her her own words. He wanted her back. He wanted his Isa back and once she was back, they would both track down Jasper and kill him. Because she earned her revenge as well.

Patience wasn't one of his virtues.

~o.O.o~

There was food. She smelled food and she was so hungry. She sat up and looked around, disoriented as where she was. It looked like a cabin, a one roomed cabin with a huge tree in the middle - seriously, who did that? - and she was on the bed. There was food on some big slab of stone and that man was sitting next to it, obsessively checking his phone. "How did you manage to get food without a stove?"

"Oh, you're up!" Kol smiled brightly at her as he brought over the food. "I'm a terrible cook, especially over an open fire. I had a friend of mine make it and bring it over."

She looked at the meal, the smoke was still coming off of it. "Are you a vampire like Jasper?"

"Not like Jasper, but yes," he said as if he was offended. "He's the stone cold sort."

"And what? You're the warm and cuddly sort?" She countered with a smile as she tucked into her food, it tasted delicious, it was the best food she'd ever had.

"Would you like me to be?" Kol replied playfully. "I mean, I could be. But all vampires are cold blooded. My kind simply has a way to stay warm. And we bleed normal blood, not the acidic goo that Jasper said was painted on the walls of that house you were in."

She lowered her fork and tried not to get queasy about it. "Don't remind me, that was gross and horrific and ugh. I'm not hungry anymore."

"You barely ate."

"You started to talk about blood and goo, it's disgusting," she shuddered at the thought and the memory, before sighing deep. She hadn't had the chance yet to completely process what was going on, what had happened. Jasper had done his best to shield her from the onslaught at the house, but that didn't take away the fact that everyone who cared about and for her, were gone. She had even started to like Edward again. "Do you know what happened in Forks?" She asked quietly, looking down at her hands.

"Yes."

She looked up to him with a hopeful look in her eyes. "Do you know who killed them?"

Oh, he didn't like the way this was going, but decided to answer truthfully anyway. The sooner, the better, right? "Yes."

"Then you should tell Jasper, because he's trying to find the ones responsible, to make them pay," she said, urging him.

Sighing, Kol handed her back her fork. "You should eat something. If you finish your plate, I'll consider telling Jasper who's responsible, but I have an inkling that he already knows."

"You can't blackmail me in eating in exchange to do something," she said as she continued to eat. If she had to be honest, she was still hungry and it simply tasted divine. "This tomato sauce is amazing."

He smiled at her, if only she knew. She had to finish the pasta, she'd get a good quantity of blood inside of her, even though it was only nearly enough to sustain her. The quicker she remembered she was a vampire again, the better. "Jasper has told me about your story, you don't remember anything before your accident?"

"No," she said as she kept eating. "Carlisle said that it was my body's way of suppressing the accident - complete blank slate. And it's not funny."

"Do you remember going to school last week?" If she did, then they'd be a lot closer to getting her back than originally thought.

"Sort of? I mean, I know I went to school, but the I started to hallucinate again so I'm not sure if I was ever present," she said with a snort. "The hallucinations or maybe it was disassociation, started when I got in with it with the history teacher about the Europeans coming to the Americas. I mean, I know that he's considered the most important person in history, but the Europeans, especially the Vikings, started coming to this place even before the 10th century. Christopher Columbus was a hack."

Kol smiled at that. Freya had told him about the encounter, of course, and he had beamed with pride. It was proof that his Isa was still in there, buried, but in there. "I think you'll get a kick out of this; this cabin was built in the 10th century by the daughter of a viking who had travelled to the New World to escape the plague."

"Really?" Her eyes grew big as saucers before looking around, really looking around. It was beautiful. "But what's with the tree?"

"It reminded her of her beloved and she decided to make it the center of her home, that way, he was always close even though he was off trotting around the world."

The story sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had read about it. "She built this by herself? What was she? Superwoman?"

"A vampire."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose."

"You don't believe me," Kol said with a pout. "Why not?"

"Well she'd have to have been a Cold One, then. All the Volturi leaders were born like… a millennium and a half before Christ. They're the oldest vampires that ever roamed the planet, perhaps there are even older vampires than that because they'd have to be turned and so forth."

"She wasn't a Cold One," he said, not amused.

"Touchy subject?"

"Not at all, darling," he said with a wink and got to his feet. He needed to create some distance between himself and this _Bella_. He didn't like her. "She wasn't a Cold One. In fact, she was the first sired vampire after a powerful witch cast an immortality spell on her children to protect them from harm. Granted, it happened by accident because she and one of those children were as good as betrothed to each other and they drank a little of each other's blood whenever one went away for a very long time. She died in a fire and turned. Then she waited for hundred and hundreds of years for her beloved, waiting for him to return, but he never did because he didn't know that she was still waiting for him."

"I think I saw that movie once," Bella said with a yawn. "Or was it a book? I don't know."

"Get some rest." Yes, rest, he added in thought. Before I snap your neck. When she laid down and drifted off into a light slumber, he quietly left the cabin and handed Damon the dishes as he was still waiting outside. "I need to kill something."

~o.O.o~

 **Mystic Falls, June 13th, 2013**

She had woken up a few times during the night, and she had been afraid that Kol would be watching her, like Edward had done in the beginning of their relationship, but he was sleeping on the big stone slab and it didn't look too comfortable. She was surprised that he was sleeping, really. To her knowledge, vampires didn't sleep.

Bella quietly made her way out of bed and stumbled in the dark. She was grateful for the tree at that moment, as she fell into it instead of face planting on the floor. "Whoops," she whispered. "Sorry!" What was she? Drunk? She was surprised when her head got filled with images, vibrations. A voice, even.

Jasper had told her to listen to the trees, and he'd been silly, but was this really a tree talking to her? Instead of withdrawing her hands, she kept them on the trunk, trying to figure out how it worked. Apparently, the tree was hyperactive, a wave of emotion and feelings coming over her and thoughts. Words.

 _Isa is home. Isa is home. Happiness. Joy. Isa is home. Don't leave again, Isa. We need you to get better, don't leave. Remember. Remember. Isa is home._ There were flashes of her - was it her? - in various ages in time, running between the trees with a big smile on her face. Dancing underneath a tree shedding its leaves in Autumn.

Stumbling backwards back onto the bed, she stared at the tree in confusion. She was crazy. That was it. Better yet, she was dreaming. Yes, she was still dreaming and to deal with what happened in Forks, she dreamt that the tree spoke to her.

"What's going on?" Kol muttered as he opened his eyes and looked at her. Oh, he knew what was going on, or he hoped he know. If his namesake could help him out with Isa, then he was all for it. Even though it still sounded ridiculous.

"Nothing. I need to pee, where's the bathroom?"

"Outside in the bushes."

"No."

"Yes. Or there's a bucket just outside."

"Never heard of running water?"

"I have, actually. There's a river not too far from here."

Bella huffed as she crawled back under the blankets. "Pass. I don't have to go that bad."

He couldn't contain his laughter. "Oh, that is just precious," he sat up as he was nearly choking. "Oh, so precious. I should write that down, you're going to find this amusing later."

"It's not funny," Bella muttered. "I get it that living in the middle of nowhere is safe and all, but no running water?"

"The river is quite nice this time of year. I'll take you to it later so you can take a dip and clean yourself up. I'll have my friend bring over some clothes you'll fit."

It was quiet for a while and still disturbed by what had happened when she had touched the tree, she sat up again. "I know this is going to sound crazy, and you might think that I'm breaking or whatever but the tree spoke to me. Or at least I think it did. Maybe you should let Jasper know and have him assess the notion of me thinking that the tree spoke to me."

"Why?"

"Because it's a tree! Who talks to trees? You? Can you hear it?"

"No, but it's quite normal in your case."

Her head snapped to him. "What do you mean? You don't know me."

"No, I don't know _you_. But I do know the other you. I've already said too much, go back to sleep."

"No." Frustrated by the lack of light, she got out of the bed and made her way over to Kol and sat down next to him. "You're going to tell me what's going on. Right now."

"Or what?" While he was glad that the meal laced with more blood that she'd gotten over the last few days had kicked in and done her some good, right now he preferred the weaker version of this Bella. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

"I'm going to keep asking until you break," she threatened. "Or pee all over you, depending on how long it takes."

"It's a long story."

"Well, I'm awake, you're awake, so tell me the story."

He let out a growl and reached for the bottle of bourbon that he had placed next to the stone and screwed off the lid before taking a large gulp. He then handed it to Bella and she did the same. "That story I was telling you earlier, about the family who was turned immortal? It's true. And I know that because it was my mother who cast the spell, turning my siblings and I into vampires. This cabin? Belongs to my fiancé."

"Okay…" Bella said slowly, taking another sip before handing the bottle back to him.

"And the part of not knowing that I had turned her, is true too. She spent a thousand years all by herself, with the trees, saving people, helping them. Whenever she could, whenever the trees told her she had to," he continued as he took another swig. "And at first, after our reunion, I thought it was endearing that she believed that she could talk to nature. That she was able to heal broken trees, or asked the animals for their permission to feed on them. Then, it got annoying and I tried cutting her off. We travelled across the world for a while, until a couple of months ago when we helped out my brother in New Orleans. I was an idiot and pushed her away. She came back here."

"Why?"

"Because this is her home. All of her memories are here. The trees are her family and her entire story is written down. I needed some time to come to my senses and eventually found her here. We talked things over and then I proposed." Sighing, Kol ran a hand through his hair as he took another drink. "I left her for only a moment to go and get some blood and when I returned, she was gone. Kidnapped."

She didn't know what to say as she looked at him. "I am so sorry, I can't imagine what you must be going through. What's your fiancé like?"

"She's the most kindest, loving and prettiest person on this Earth. I don't deserve her, not one bit, but she's so forgiving. Her heart is so open and I've done some nasty things to her, or in my life, and she doesn't care. I didn't know I sired her, she doesn't care. I didn't know that I had a hand in her death that caused her to turn, she said it was alright. After we fought and I returned to her, she said that while she was cross with me, she forgave me, because she was at fault too. But she wasn't. Not entirely. I should have known better. I have a big ego, you see. I thought I could fix her. Change her life so she could live inside my world, but I had to realize that it was me who needed to change."

"She's one lucky girl," Bella smiled at him. "Why are you hanging out with me then?"

He nearly drowned himself in the rest of the bottle, quiet, as he contemplated his next move. Bella was still weak. He knew that it was their plan to have her remember on her own or wait until the vervain was out of her system, but she was weak. Weaker than when she slaughtered the church. He could easily overpower her when needed and he could keep her inside. Throw her into the cave system below if needed. The only entrance and exit were in the cabin. "Because I have to," he eventually said, finishing the bottle. "Now, you had your story, go back to bed."

"That wasn't an answer."

"Well, it's what you're going to have to accept," Kol got to his feet, lifted Bella up and got her back onto the bed. "Later today we're going to the river so you can clean yourself up. Not another peep."

~o.O.o~

"How is she doing?" Damon asked as he stopped next to Kol, who kept an ear out for Bella. She was having a wash up at the river and even though he was close by, he wanted to give her some privacy.

"She's lucky I didn't snap her neck."

"Does she remember what happened a few days ago?"

"Yes, although she thinks that it didn't happen."

"Good. Then we're going to work her up so much that she'll kill one of her trees again and snaps."

"That's the worst idea ever."

"Seemed to work the last time," Damon shrugged as he pushed a bag of clothes in Kol's arms. "They're Elena's. I think it'll fit."

"Freya managed to figure out what herbs they used on her. It's not just vervain, but it also prevents witches from getting inside Isa's head," Kol replied as he held the bag. "She doesn't even want to make an attempt, afraid that she'll do permanent harm."

"She's been off the drugs and vervain for two days. She'll come back," he replied, hopeful, as he watched Isa emerge from the river, still wearing her clothes that were now soaking wet. "Oh, change of clothes coming to the rescue!"

Bella saw Damon standing next to Kol. But if Damon was here, if he was _real_ , then was what she experienced when he and Jasper were bickering also real? She felt the color drain from her face. That was ridiculous. Because if that was real, Ms. Salvatore from school had been correct and that while she thought she had imagined it, she had drank human blood from a blood bag. Because she'd be a _vampire_.

If all of that was real, and not a hallucination as Carlisle had told her, then that meant that she wasn't Bella Swan. She was Isa. Kol's fiancé. Which, explained a lot, but it wasn't real. It simply couldn't be real. She didn't want to be a vampire, and if she had to believe Kol, Isa was an old vampire. No, this wasn't happening. Nope.

"Oh, I know that look on her face," Damon murmured. "She's ready to bolt."

Kol made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around the wet vampire. "No, she's not."

"Sire to the rescue! You know, if you had been around when she was turned, maybe on your way to control your impulses, you could have taught her!"

"You're not helping, Damon."

Bella struggled against Kol's hold. "I have no idea what you're doing, but let me go."

"You're not going to run?" Kol asked surprised.

"Why would I do that?" She ducked out from underneath his arms, snatched the bag from the ground and started to march back to the cabin. "My life is a crazy mess right now, if I'd run, I'd never figure out what's real or not. And unless you want to see me naked, don't come into the cabin until I say you can!"

"Oh!" Damon smirked, earning him being smacked on the head by Kol.

"Do not tempt me to tell you to go fuck yourself, Damon, it won't be pretty," he warned him as they followed Isa back to the cabin. "I'm only tolerating you for your kinship with my Isa and because she cares about you, but do not piss me off."

"Hey, she offered."

"No, that was a warning," he countered as he stood in front of the door. "I appreciate all that you're doing to help out, and you and I might seem friendly, but do not mistake that for something that it's not. I will kill you if I have to."

"Jealous much?" Damon huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and defiantly looked at Kol. "I don't like her that way, and you know it."

Bella opened the door and gently nudged Kol before pulling him inside. She then pointed at Damon. "Inside, now."

Damon winced, she sounded much like a disapproving mother, but he knew that she couldn't really hurt him, the little blood in the two meals he had prepared for her wasn't enough to actually rip out his spleen… or was it? Isa was known for living on less potent blood. Oh, he was fucked. She was going to break his dick again, wasn't she?

"Sit," she ordered the both of them as she leaned against the tree trunk. Damon looked guilty and Kol looked amused. She didn't feel amused, at all. "First of all, whose clothes are these?"

"Ah, my girlfriend's," Damon replied. "If you'd think that I'd go shopping clothes for you… sorry, I draw the line there."

"Get a different detergent because it smells."

"Noted."

"And I know you," she told Damon. "You were in the clearing with me and Jasper, when he tried to calm me down."

"Yes, I was."

Pushing herself away from the trunk, she started to pace around it. "Okay so… if you were there, and you're now confirming it, that means that it actually happened or I'm currently hallucinating. So this is either real, or not real. But it's so ridiculous that it can't be real, so you're not here, unless Kol sees you too, and he can, because he talked to you. You're interacting with each other. You're both not real then," she tried to rationalize as she kept pacing. "But let's say all of this is real, just for the sake of my sanity… all of this started with my teacher. Ms. Salvatore."

"Not my wife or sister."

"Shut up, I'm thinking," she demanded as she continued what she was doing. "She called me Isa and gave me a blood bag to drink from because she said I was a vampire. But I hate blood. Yet, when I drank it, it tasted delicious, as if it was the best meal I've had in a very long time. The way it caressed my tongue, the way it went down my throat, it was heavenly. Silky, smooth… coppery yummyness."

"Don't make us thirsty, darling," Kol swallowed hard as when she talked about blood going down her throat, she touched hers with her hand and it travelled down her torso and it looked hot.

"You're thirsty?" Bella scoffed as she kept walking around. "I feel like I could devour an entire planet!"

"You do tend to get a little cranky when you're hungry," Damon piped up.

Ignoring Damon, she continued to follow her crazy train of thought. "So, if this is real, and I reacted to blood like that, then it's true, I'm a vampire. And my name is Isa." She then turned around to face Kol. "Your fiancé."

"That's correct."

"So why don't I remember all of this?"

"The Cullens took you away from me and fiddled about with vervain and other types of herbs to make you forget, according to Freya-"

"Who's that?"

"My sister."

"The history teacher?"

"She went with Damon's last name in the hopes it sounded familiar to you and as not to raise any suspicion for the Cullens who went to class with you. It was your erratic behaviour that got us caught." Kol told her as he watched her closely. "We nearly got you out too, and it seems that they somehow have managed to bury your true memories even further."

"My buddy Peter, who's also Jasper's buddy Peter, told me they had a Volturi and another powerfully gifted Cold One dig into your brains. Lock your true self away. The only way to get free of that, at this moment, is for you to remember on your own. Break through the walls they put up," Damon explained, surprised that things were going so well. They all had been afraid for a little Isa bomb-explosion. But maybe this was because she wasn't remembering who she was, simply recounting what she was told.

"What's the other option?"

"Wait until the herbs and vervain are completely out of your system and for one of us to go into your mind and pull you out," Kol replied.

"Is there another option?"

"Yes, but it's not preferable and I don't want it to happen," he snapped.

"Is it your choice, or mine?"

"Mine."

"It's my head! My life! My memories! Why should you be the one deciding what's going to happen?" Bella shot at him as she continued her pacing. "The Cullens already controlled every single part of my life, so if this is reality, if what everything we're discussing is real, then why would it be your choice?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Damon huffed and thumbed in Kol's direction. "The idiot feels guilt about what he's put you - Isa - through. The accidental turning, the events leading up to your death… Forgetting all about you, thinking you were dead for good, not raising you properly as a vampire… the works. And that's something because Kol Mikaelson doesn't do guilty. No, you know, he makes the last option his choice, because it'll be painful for you. Very painful. Like using a sledgehammer to butter your toast. Witches would have to use so much power and force to break that head of yours open, that you'll be in pain. And then it's not even sure how much of you is going to survive. So, that's why it's his choice. As much as I disagree, it's his choice, not yours."

"Screw you both," she spat.

"Although, I have to admit, I kinda like this version of you. It's spunky," Damon grinned.

She was quiet for a moment and shook her head. "Carlisle said that everything I was experiencing were unwanted side effects of the car accident. Hallucinations. Paranoia."

"Darling, you weren't in a car accident. And if you were, you would have survived with not a scratch on you. You're a vampire."

"Yeah, you've told me that and I remember the taste of blood. Carlisle said it could be a side effect, my brain playing tricks on me."

"Go ask your tree to send you something to eat," Kol told her with a small smile on his face. "You two spoke last night, do it again. Ask for food."

"You're being ridiculous."

"What are you in the mood for? Can't ask for humans, but there's plenty of deer."

"Oh, rabbits. Stefan likes the bunnies," Damon pointed out.

"No doubt you've eaten bears and wolves before," Kol pointed to the tree. "Go on, I dare you. Amaze yourself." He hoped that the tree would cooperate, that it saw that Isa wasn't in her right mind. He knew that she never asked them for anything, but for her to believe what was going on was real, the tree had to deliver.

It felt ridiculous to have to rely on a bloody tree.

"You already think this is nuts, so be nuttier," Damon dared her. "You went from super angry to super sad when you snapped a tree in half in Forks. It was as if the world ended."

"You didn't feel his pain," she countered.

"Aha! You do remember!"

"Yeah, as a part of my hallucination. But fine," she threw her hands in the air before walking to the tree and placed her hand against the trunk with a bored expression on her face as she looked at the men watching her with an eager look on their faces. "Nothing's happening."

She had done it earlier, why didn't it work now? Was it because she was aggravated? She never had problems with her anger and those bloody trees. Kol was worried that the Cullens had ruined her for good, and if that was the case, he didn't want this to be her new life. "I'll go and get you something to snack on," he muttered as he left the cabin. Elijah was the babysitter, Elijah was the one who could fix everything. Even Niklaus had more patience. He had promised better.

His Isa was stuck. Stuck in believing what she had been told. They had only found her after two and a half months; the other two weeks were guesswork, anticipating the Cullen's next step, and he had been wanting to take her out of that house immediately. It was only because Freya told them that she'd be damaged beyond repair that they hadn't done anything and now that she was here, going with the plan he had offered as the plan Freya and Nik had devised hadn't worked, he hated it.

He dialled Nik on his phone. He needed to know his thoughts. He was probably going to suggest just to kill her, and that would be swell and all, but Kol really had feelings for Isa. Still had. He realized just how much when she was taken, it nearly ripped him apart and that had been a shock. But before his brother could answer, he hung up and headed back to the cabin. Short of killing her and leaving her to her own life, there was only one thing he could do.

He was simply going to keep snapping her neck until the herbs were completely out of her system. Then fix her. Bring her back.

Walking back into the cabin, ready to snap her neck - it was going to hurt him more than her, he stopped in his tracks when Bella had Damon in a vice-like grip and it looked painful. "Well, this is interesting."

"A little help, please?" Damon said with a strangled voice. Not only had Bella her arms around his neck, her legs were around his torso and they were on the floor.

"She's not supposed to be strong enough to subdue you yet, Damon, so whatever you did, you must have angered her."

"He was flirting with me!" Bella cried out. "And then he said was going to take me below! In the nether regions of this cabin for story time!" She tightened her hold on him. "I'm not his for something like that!"

Kol casually leaned against the tree stump with his arms crossed over each other. Just as he had lost hope, there was a glimmer of his little ray of sunshine. "That is naughty. Go on then, snap his neck."

"I am trying, but he is stronger!"

"Not for long, darling," he reached over and snapped Damon's neck, the vampire went limp in Bella's arms in an instant and she let go of him. "Well done," he said appreciatively before removing the rug and pointed at the hole. "Would you like to join me downstairs? There are some stories down there that I wish for you to see."

"No," she got to her feet and dusted herself off. "I'm hungry."

"Well, you just killed the cook."

She looked around the cabin and sighed. "Very well. Get us a chicken or a fish or whatever and I'll cook us something," she said as she walked to the little cupboard, revealing a large pot and some ingredients in there. "I'll get the fire going." When she looked over her shoulder to look at him, she smirked. "Go on, viking boy, do your job," she teased as she tossed some things in the pot and headed outside.

He refrained from kissing her senseless and quickly caught them some fish - chickens were too messy and there were large trouts in the river and was back just in time to see her come back with some water in a different pot and starting the fire. "I'll get you a blood bag from Damon's house, if you want."

"No, it's fine," she sighed as she leaned against a boulder and started to filet the fish. "I'm insufferable and moody and if I was at full strength, I would have killed him so… let's not do that until the real me surfaces."

"So you believe the story then?"

"Eh," she said with a shrug. "My life was crazy as it was, entertaining this possibility could lead to sanity. Or not. And if not, then it's fine anyway." She reached for some kind of rack and placed it above the fire and placed the now gutted fish on them. She then placed the pot next to the fish on the coals and started to add water and other things she brought from the cabin.

Kol had watched her eagerly, she cleaned the fish on vampire speed and he believed that she didn't even realise she was doing it, and as he watched her work, he could see his Isa. All those years ago, cooking him a meal. And she was doing it now, still the same way. He got out his phone and started to film her. "Darling, I'd like to make my brothers jealous, could you tell me what you're making for dinner?"

She removed the rack from the fire and stirred the large pot. "Jealous? Why?"

"Just entertain the idea of making them jealous. What are you making?"

"Kornmjölsgröt with trout. It's the best I can do on short notice," it rolled off her tongue as if it was completely normal. She then looked up to Kol with a smile, as he was still filming. "Or, we could have gone to the golden arches."

"Oh no, I want this. Definitely this. The smell is absolutely amazing. It's so good, I can almost taste it without actually tasting it."

She removed the skin from the fish and started to tear it apart before relaxing against her boulder and grinned. "I think I know some Scandinavian."

"Yes, you do."

"Kornmjölsgröt. Grain flour meal. Porridge."

"If you call it Fish Porridge, it doesn't sound too good," he sent the video to his family and waited in glee. There was no doubt that they'd want a taste of this and it took a while to get from New Orleans to Mystic Falls. By the time they'd arrive, it would all be long gone.

"It's not authentic, I had to substitute stuff because a thousand years is a long time, but I have my own little garden not far from here where there's some herbs and whatnot," she said as she watched Kol and realized what she had said and what she was doing. "Fuck me, it's real, isn't it? I'm not 18, I'm a thousand year old vampire! And I was kidnapped!"

"Yes," he replied with a nod and then smirked when he saw the reactions of his siblings. "Niklaus says to save him some of the food when we're done," he started typing. "I just replied 'not a chance'."

"Is he coming? Because if so, we need more fish."

"No, he's not," Kol snickered. "Elijah's envious and wishes that there were more people around who could cook like they used to in our time as humans because even though times changed, he still longs for- oh bugger, he's being far too elaborate again. Boring. Rebekah wants you to feed as you look terrible. That's not nice, I think you look pretty, no matter how you look."

"I'm not going to drink blood, Kol. Not until I know what I'm doing. Not until I understand what I can do."

"I know, darling, and that's fine. A drop or two would keep you from desiccating, no need for more just yet."

"When will Damon wake up?"

"In a while," Kol sat down next to her and watched the fire. "Don't feel guilty about me snapping his neck. I like doing it. In fact, I might do it again if he wakes up."

"Only when he's being obnoxious."

He huffed as a response. "He doesn't have an off-switch."

~o.O.o~

 **Mystic Falls, June 15th 2013**

He hadn't been able to resist to snap _her_ neck a few times over the course of the previous day. Mainly because she was - as she had stated earlier - quite moody and testing his patience. But when he didn't snap her neck, she was usually _not-Bella_ but not Isa either. Yet, he didn't mind her company.

He was surprised when he woke up, that she had joined him on the concrete slab of stone he'd been sleeping on for the last few days and had tucked herself underneath his arm. And now he didn't dare to move. She was so soundly asleep and the smell of her soothed him so much, that he didn't want to burst his own bubble when he had to deal with his not-fiancé.

He had nudged her mind a little, mostly because he was afraid that he wasn't going to do it properly. Despite being centuries old, he didn't have the experience his brothers had. Granted, he spent almost 500 years travelling the earth, but he never had to do something like this before. And he was afraid that he was going to harm her. He had nudged her mind, simply to see if the herbs had worn off and the vervain out of her system and much to his relief, there wasn't a trace left.

Now all he needed was to bring her home.

And maybe that was best while she was still asleep.

He cursed himself as he shifted, just a little, and tucked her hair behind her ear before placing his hand on the side of her head. They were already in full bodily contact and he liked it that way. It meant a stronger connection, a bigger pull. Almost like gravity. Relaxing himself, shaking off his anxiety, he allowed himself to be sucked into her head and found it clean.

Niklaus had said that it could be messy. That it was going to be hard to find Isa in the whirling thoughts inside her head, but it was absolutely clean. There were boxes everywhere, taped shut. Doors leading to wherever and it felt a little overwhelming. And underwhelming. Was this it? Was he going to have to look through every box, behind every door, to find her? How disappointing.

"You're not supposed to be here," Bella emerged from the shadows. Or was it someone else? Freya had warned him about some sort of security measure against intrusions and that in Isa's mind, they would be equals. He wouldn't be able to rely on his vampire strength, only his strength of will and he was determined to get her back. The spell, however, would be determined to keep everything behind lock and key.

"I know I'm not," he replied as he headed for the boxes and started to look at the labels. "But I'm here anyway." The boxes were pieces of Bella that Isa had already shred over the last few days.

"It's trash day, they'll be collected later," she said as she pointed at the boxes. "You need to get out."

"Not until I found what I came for," he said and as he walked towards the doors, they seemed to be further and further away. Angrily, he turned around to face her. "You need to stop that."

"Or else?"

"I'll use brute force."

Bella, Isa, whoever it was, snorted. "As if, you're too concerned in trying not to harm your beloved Isa. What did you want to do? Compel her? How? She's not here. There's nothing here. Have a witch use a sledgehammer and break down every door? Risking Isa's mind?"

"If I have to." Kol turned around again and continued to march to the doors, who yet again started to move away from him. "But I'm hoping it won't come to that." He continued to walk for what seemed hours, the girl behind him calling him things such as stupid, incredulous, weak, pathetic, and he ignored it all. In fact, it only made him more determined to find his Isa.

"Why do you care?"

"Because she's my responsibility."

"Not good enough. Tell me why you want Isa back so much and I might consider you taking her, because sooner or later, she'll find her way back anyway and I won't be able to stop it. So, try again. Why do you care?"

He stopped and faced her again. "Because she's my responsibility. I made her the way she is. It's my fault and I need to make things right. I've left her alone for long enough, and I am not going to do it again. The months that we were parted, hurt, and I do not wish that feeling upon anybody. She's been on her own for over a thousand years, waiting, for me. I don't deserve her, I know I don't. Getting her out of her own mind is the least that I can do."

She thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, still not good enough."

"What do you want to hear?" He almost yelled at the image. "That I need her? Because I do, and not for pure selfish reasons like as long as she's still around that my brother won't lock me away again. No, I need her. She makes me a better person. Balances me out. Makes me see the world differently and shows me that not everything has to be so bloody complicated. Asking her to marry me was the scariest thing I've ever done, and I nearly died. Me and my gorgeous face. But you know what? She's more gorgeous, she's beautiful inside and out, even when she talks to her trees. To nature. I love her, of course I want to save her. I would be a prick if I didn't."

"You still sound like a selfish brat to me, you Originals are all the same. Me, me, me. Sure, you care for people. You try to help them, but to what end? Only to better yourself. Tell me why you care so much for her survival. Bella's the better template, isn't she? More whole."

"Bella's broken thanks to whatever they've done to Isa. Bella isn't a real person. Isa is. All her memories, all her experiences, they're worth something. They're real. I come to retrieve Isa because she doesn't deserve this. Not at all. She's the sweetest, kindest person on this Earth and I'll be damned if I don't do what's right in getting her back. So, hand her over."

The image shrugged. "Very well. You want to know why the Cullens took her?"

"Yes, please."

"There's a war going on between the Original sire lines. The Volturi wanted to see if they could mess with the war by inserting a trojan horse that would cause a guaranteed destruction of all vampires created by an Original. Global domination and all that. But they failed. Isa's too strong willed and Bella was indeed, only a template. It's uncertain if they'll try again. Perhaps they'll get physically involved. Be wary. Don't trust anything, question everything when it comes to this war. Isa is one of a kind. Take care of her, her gift might be your salvation," the image shuddered and winked out before all the doors opened and he was enveloped by every memory, every thought, his Isa had had, and he could now understand the mess that Niklaus had described.

Kol quickly exited her mind and smiled proudly at himself. He had done it. He had released his Isa. He wasn't quite sure if he had to believe all that nonsense about a war between the sire lines, but then again, there were certain lines of his siblings line that were just as conniving as the three of them were. If there was a war going on, Nik, Elijah and Rebekah had to brace themselves.

Oh, he was so lucky that he only had Isa to worry about.


	4. Family

**Mystic Falls, June 15th 2013**

Kol waited for Isa to wake up, and when she did, she let out a groan before rolling into him, causing him to snort and wrap his arms around her. "Good morning, darling, welcome home."

Her eyes flew open then, and he watched her in fascination. She prodded his chest, tugged on his hair, almost as if she was testing reality, before she eagerly kissed him. "I'm back!" She exclaimed as she pushed him to his back and straddled him before kissing him again. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're welcome," he laughed.

"You found me," she smiled widely, still on top of him before her head snapped to the tree in the middle of the cabin. "And you! I can hear you!" She hopped off her beloved and hugged the trunk of the tree.

Normally he'd find it an insult when a girl left a perfectly fine position on top of him to do other things, but Kol found himself turning on his side and watch his Isa communicate with his namesake, the tree. He had missed this nutty side of her, well, it wasn't nutty. It was a part of her, and it was real, and that scared him.

Why?

Because if the bloody Cold Ones would go after her, who would be next?

After a while, she turned around and looked at him, concern washed over her face. "What is it, love?" He asked as he sat up.

"Damon brought back his mother from a jail world?"

"He mentioned plans of doing that, yes. I told him that he had to leave it alone, as she was put there for a reason if she was in one."

Isa nodded. "He managed to bring her back. And with her, the vampires she created. How much have you seen of Mystic Falls?"

"I went to his house once to get you your food, but he met me halfway." See, he liked this, she seemed to be able to tell him everything that he had missed. In his defense, he had been focused on her, not his surroundings, knowing that her cabin was a safe place. According to her drawings in the caverns below, Ayana had put up a boundary spell that only people could see it once they'd been taken to it by Isa herself. And it seemed to work perfectly. Ayana had also been the one who gifted Isa with her own daylight ring and looked after her until she died. It had comforted him, somewhat, to know that Isa hadn't been completely left on her own. It probably also explained the diet of animal blood. "I told him he'd be on his own if she'd cause trouble."

"You don't wish to help him?"

"Depends on what the problem is, darling. Damon likely found himself in a situation that even you can't help him out of. You don't get locked in a Gemini prison world without having done something terrible."

Isa sighed and nodded. "I suppose you're right." She felt slightly disappointed, because she felt the need to protect Damon and his brother, like she'd always done, but according to her trees, Damon had really opened the box of Pandora with his latest emotional mistake. "How did you feed?"

"Damon gave me some bags, I didn't want to leave you." He saw the restlessness on her face and pulled her towards him. "Tell me, how bad is the fall out of Damon bringing back his mother?"

"She brought friends. Heretics. There's a truce in play where all the humans, bar one human cop, have left Mystic Falls so they have the run of the town."

He blinked at that. Heretics? Granted, he had a run in once or twice with Oscar, who wasn't that bad and only liked to have fun, but the Heretics were crazy. They were powerful and while he could tell his siblings about it and have rain hell down on the Heretics, there were more important matters at hand. Such as Isa and her recovery. Reign in Rebekah with the wedding preparations, ask Isa about what she wanted and much more. But most of all, have fun. Taking care of some Heretics wasn't fun.

"Can't we go to our flat in Los Angeles for a while?" She put her arms around his neck. "Damon and Stefan have to fix this on their own, I don't feel like meddling with this. The trees are terrified that something will happen to me again."

"Are they?"

"Kol says that Geezer and Ezekiel want us out of here. They'll let us know when it's safer to come back."

"What? Now?"

"Well, yes, but I'm not going anywhere until I've had something to snack," she mused. "There's an Elk not far from here, would you like to come?"

He scrunched up his nose. "No thanks," he kissed her forehead. "And can we have sex when you're topped up? Before we leave?"

She smirked as she left his lap. "Come with me. I know a great spot."

"We have a bed!"

Isa shrugged. "Thought you liked an adventure."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, June 20th 2013**

Their few days spent in Los Angeles, did Isa some good. Did him some good. Simply enjoying each other's company over a nice warm body to drink from and less of him trying to keep her close. She'd be in the park behind the flat if he found her missing. Of course, the first time she wasn't next to him in bed when he woke up he freaked out, but she had left him a note. Hilariously in Norse runes.

She later explained to him that she preferred the runes, still, despite knowing the English language, and she wouldn't mind re-acquainting him with the language. That evening was spent with her drawing all over his skin in the blood of the tourist he had snagged off the beach and it had been amazing. Especially when he could practise on her.

However, he had received a worrying message from his brother Nik. Lucien Castle was in New Orleans. Lucien. Bloody Lucien, the one he had voted for to gut and eat when Rebekah had insisted in posing as noblemen for a while after running for so long. What was the name again? De Guise-Rochefort? Granted, he had been fed up as well, but the bloody family vow kept them together. Like a noose around his neck.

If this had anything to do with the message that was left inside Isa's mind about a war between the sire lines, it was going to get bloody and entertaining. It worried him, because Lucien was capable of doing anything. The slimy bastard had been a very clever servant and with his own agenda. Kinda like his brother Niklaus, although he'd never been a servant.

What was worse, Lucien was part of the Trinity; three vampires first sired. The oldest ever sired and they were all brats. What was hilarious, that they didn't know about Isa because nobody knew about her until three years ago and they kept it a secret between them. Oh, this was going to be so much fun.

Nik told him to stay away. Kol told Isa and, because of her own curiosity, agreed that they should go to New Orleans, granted that Kol would allow her to go to the Bayou or wherever else when she felt like it. He already figured that taking her to the zoo would be a hoot. Yes. New Orleans.

While there was no doubt in his mind that Freya would be able to back up his siblings, Kol knew that Lucien, Tristan and Aurora were even more manipulative than any one of them. It was best to have two extra sets of eyes, even if it meant for Isa to pretend she wasn't older than those three for awhile. Besides, Lucien had always liked Kol, despite Kol not liking him. It would be great to fuck with his head again.

He was also sure that Rebekah was going to keep Isa occupied with wedding talk. Something he and she still hadn't spoken about together since her return.

But, of course, before they'd go to New Orleans, Isa insisted on going back to Mystic Falls after hearing that Ezekiel had fallen ill. When they arrived at the stump, that had started to grow back but hadn't completely re-rooted itself even after all this time, she insisted that they'd take him to New Orleans, plant him in the Bayou due to its unique soil and hope he'd be better then. Maybe dig a little deeper, too.

It was her own fault that Ezekiel was doing worse. Of course, he'd insisted that he was doing fine and even Damon had said a few times that the tree was doing fine. But she'd been so caught up in Kol that she hadn't noticed that everyone was lying. At least he wasn't dead. He was still hanging in there.

Kol didn't mind taking the stump with them, it meant a lot to Isa, so what if it looked ridiculous on the motorway?

After finding the right spot for Ezekiel, they had spent the rest of the afternoon digging a hole and taking care of him. Even Kol had started to call the stump a 'he' now, instead of an it. Mostly because Isa talked so vividly about him. Now that he had thrown rationality out of the window and started to believe her, more stories came. More observations. There was more life on her face, and he absolutely loved it.

Most importantly, he believed her. She knew about so many things it simply had to be true. Even her stories in her cabin on the walls, how could she have known all of those things if she'd never left Mystic Falls? Just because he couldn't see it, didn't mean it wasn't possible. He was the biggest witch-loving vampire out there, he'd been an idiot not to accept that Isa's quirkiness had become more powerful over the years.

Then again, who'd ever expect that his or her lover of a thousand years ago would resurface?

They stayed in the Bayou maybe for longer than necessary, but Isa wanted to make sure that Ezekiel was properly tucked in this time, and she wouldn't leave until he sounded stronger, felt stronger. Covered in mud, they compelled the owner of the first house they saw, took a shower and got changed before crashing their brother's dinner party.

"Oh, joy!" Kol smiled widely as he walked onto the courtyard. "The whole family is here! Lucien, Tristan, Aurora, so good to see you again!"

"What is this?" Lucien demanded as he looked at his sire. "You told us a moment ago that Kol got killed!"

"Oh, did he now?" Kol said with a pout, reaching for the first glass of wine in his reach and downed it in one go. "Well, surprise!"

"I thought I told you to stay away, brother," Klaus said, a smile on his face but it wasn't genuine. It was filled with concern.

"Oh, you know how I am, Niklaus," Kol said as he handed Isa a glass of wine. "I happen to like parties. Especially reunions, they are so… what's the word… special." He looked around the table. "Where is our sister?"

"No, no, no," Aurora squealed in panic. "This isn't happening. If you're not dead, what happened to your sire line?"

Kol looked at Isa. "Oh, I believe we found ourselves in the midst of the sireline war that Bella warned me about," he said, mockingly.

"I hated that bitch," Isa muttered as she took a sip of her wine. "So glad she's gone."

Elijah looked at Isa with an amused smile on his face. He hadn't heard her swear like that before. "There is an entire prophecy dedicated to our family."

"There is no prophecy. They're like… scary stories people make up to keep them in check," Isa said as she made her way over to Niklaus. "Like the stories they tell about Klaus," she smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "He's simply a big puppy." She ruffled his hair some more. "Aren't you?"

"Still crazy then?" Klaus countered as he looked at Kol.

"Oh yes," Kol grinned. "And no, you're not going to kill her, Niklaus. She's here to help."

Isa zeroed in on Aurora. "I don't like you," she said as she approached her, fearless. "You're truly out of your mind and you've done something to Rebekah, haven't you?" She looked at the shrubbery and then back at Aurora. "Don't worry, I'll find her, only to make sure that your sire can rip you to shreds for what you've done."

"Darling?" Kol questioned her.

"Oh, not in front of the children, Kol. They're already playing dirty and your brothers and your other sister know that. This dinner had a special function." She grinned as she turned to Klaus. "Please, let them leave with their hearts still beating in their chest. I like some entertainment."

"Excuse me, but who is this and how dare she talk to us like that? To you!" Tristan demanded angrily as he slammed his fork on the table, breaking the table in half, causing the food and the drinks to spill into one heap.

"Such a waste," Isa pouted and then pointed at Lucien. "He smells like steel. Cold steel. Mechanical. Technological."

"Well, I happen to have become quite rich with my-" Lucien started, but Isa ignored him before she joined Kol at his side again.

"I'm going to our room," she said as she looked up to him with a smile on her face as she slipped a round disc that she had lifted from Lucien in his pocket. "Come join me when you're ready."

While Isa walked away, Kol sighed happily as he reached for a piece of chicken that was still on a plate, nearly having to have to crawl over Lucien to do so. "So, now that we're all reunited and we do not have to worry about our sister, let's celebrate."

"What, exactly?" Elijah asked curiously.

"Well, there are plenty of things to celebrate, Elijah. Such as this reunion with your first ever sires. Such as Isa's safe return and such as our engagement. The wisest person in her life has given me his blessing and we've been celebrating it with the two of us, but what's the fun in that?"

"Your fiancé just left you here to go to her room."

Kol was quiet for a moment before a big smile appeared on his face. "You're right. You're absolutely right. We'll talk later!" He started to walk into the direction Isa had gone. "Lucien, Tristan, Aurora, so good to see you conniving faces again and I can't wait to have a proper chat with you, but alas, my gorgeous fiancé is waiting for me."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, June 21st, 2013**

"Why did you have to make your entrance like that?" Klaus asked as he shot his brother and Isa a dirty look over the breakfast table. "Do you have any idea how much we've worked for? What we've done? What they've done? And now you bring _her_ here? I was trying to keep the both of you safe after all you've been through!"

"Relax, brother," Kol said, waving his brother's anger away before pulling out a chair for Isa to sit on. "The first sign of trouble we're out of here."

"You're still here."

"We're not in trouble," he replied and sat down.

Klaus tiredly sighed as he turned to his food. "Quite the display you two put up last night, must have been exhausting."

"I'm sorry if we were loud, Nik," Kol smirked. "But ever since she returned to me, we simply-"

"I didn't mean _that_. Although I was quite tempted to kill the both of you for disrupting our sleep. Please refrain from _that_ for as long as you're under my roof."

"The only one to have sex in this building is Niklaus?" Isa asked innocently as she poured herself something to drink. "Maybe we should stay at that shack in the Bayou. It looked empty yesterday."

"Yes, do that," Klaus snapped before looking over at Kol. "The Bayou? Is she still talking to trees even after what she's been through?"

" _She_ is sitting right here!" Isa threw her knife towards Klaus, who caught it before it could hit him. She ducked when the knife came back her way, hearing it clatter against the stone wall at the far end of the compound. "And if you want Rebekah back, you'll have to deal with _me_ as well, because I don't believe that your infamous Trinity will cooperate. One has the longitude and the other the other one? Please. How childish."

"How?" Freya asked as she joined them. "I can't find her anywhere, she's protected by magic."

"And you're supposed to be a powerful witch," Isa rolled her eyes at her before snapping her toast in half and took a bite off it. "Maybe because the best way to find Rebekah is not by using magic but use of other means."

"And what do you suggest?" Klaus said, an entertained smile on his lips. "Start dredging every ocean, pond and river?"

"I suggest I go for a swim this afternoon," she simply stated and continued to eat her toast as she relaxed into the chair.

It was quiet for a moment before Kol spoke up. "So I'm dead to you?"

"Sorry?"

"You told the terrible trio that I was dead."

"To protect you."

"I don't need your protecting, Niklaus, I'm very capable of doing that myself!" Kol shot at him. "But must have been easy to persuade them that I was dead, seeing as I don't have a long line of little sirelings hopping about, causing a fuss."

"No, instead you got a lunatic."

"Niklaus, it's not fair to vent your frustration onto your brother and Isa," Freya said kindly. "They haven't deserved that. Stop being the mean older brother, we all know that you sent me to aid Kol and Damon in retrieving his beloved Isa."

Klaus scowled.

"Isa lifted this off of Lucien last night," Kol said, holding up the round disc that Isa had put in his pocket. "It's the Serratura, a dark object to keep people locked in one place for a very long time. I created it with Mary Alice Claire back in the day. Thought I'd lost it!"

"Camille told me it was between the dark objects her family has collected over the years."

"Ah, okay, so it wasn't lost. Maybe she has more items that I've misplaced."

"You created it with a Claire witch?" Elijah asked as he finally joined his family at the table. He had been amused to see how well Isa held herself against his brother, and how Freya had put Niklaus in his place. "That explains why the Strix want Davina. Brother, they can't get a hold of that disc. Not while Davina's allegiance is still questionable."

"Not to worry about Davina, I hear that Marcel and Vincent have taken care of that. She's no longer at risk of being used against us and she'll live because of that," Klaus replied as he took a sip of his drink.

"The Strix?" Kol blinked. "They're still around? Elijah, I thought you put a stop to them ages ago!"

"No, I simply left," he countered. "Much to my dismay, it seems that they're all more deranged than our brother's line. Talented, famous, but quite off the mark."

"Yes, of course. I told you not to do it because it would come round and bite you in the arse, but nobody ever listened to me." Kol mocked his brother. "Rebekah and I were never really allowed to have our own opinion."

"Hand me the disc now, so I can keep it safe." Klaus said, holding out his hand.

"What? This little trinket?" Kol huffed and tossed it to his brother. "This is merely the copy I created. It's a dud. Doesn't do anything."

"Excuse me? Why is everyone looking for this then?"

"Oh, come on, Nik," he said as he buttered his roll and put something on it, he wasn't quite sure what, but he didn't really care. "You're not the only one known to misdirect. Would I really leave such a powerful object, that could even sideline me, out in the open? Plant seeds here and there that you don't need a White Oak Stake to kill an Original? That's an overly decorated coaster with some gibberish scribbled on it," he laughed. "Although, I have to admit that it's fascinating to see your beloved triad to come running with it. Go through all that trouble."

Klaus tossed the disc back to his brother, applauding his thoughts behind it. "So where's the real thing?"

"I have something better. Ask yourself this," Kol said as he let the disc roll through his fingers. "Did I just tell you the truth? Or maybe a half truth? Is this really a copy or is it the real thing? Or even better; is there even such a thing that could lock people up for an eternity?"

"Kol!"

"I mean, I have to admit," he said with a snort. "If I was sired by you lot and I didn't want to die, it would be amazing to just take you out of the equation. No harm being able to come over you. Safe keeping. Then proceed to do whatever I wanted. Quite tempting indeed."

"Unbelievable." Elijah said, clearly impressed.

"If you do believe in this so-called prophecy, or that a fraction of the White Oak Stake is still around, as you expressed during our late night talk over the phone a few days ago, why don't you kill Freya?"

"Excuse me?" Freya's head snapped to Kol. "What?"

"Well, according to Nik, you saved his life, along with Elijah's and Rebekah's by inhaling the dust of the stake when our dear Auntie Dahlia destroyed it in hopes of killing them with the dust. So you, dearest sister, our oh so human witchy sister, have remnants of the stake within you. You could cause all of our deaths."

"You need to stop talking if you don't want to get boxed," Klaus warned him with a growl. "And yes, I'll even be willing to go back on my word for it. Freya's done nothing to deserve your suspicion or crazy theories, brother, so stop talking."

Isa had watched Freya through the entire exchange and she could have sworn to see the color drain from her face. Her heart was beating faster, she was getting nervous. Who wouldn't, though? Being accused of being a weapon of mass destruction in the presence of the people she could possibly kill with a single drop of her blood, or with a poke of her finger. Isa would be scared.

While Isa had a habit of taking out threats towards her or those she loved, she felt unwanted by Niklaus. Elijah hadn't really spoken to her or about her so she didn't know about him. And Freya… well, she had come to her rescue, somewhat. But it was possible that Freya was a danger to her siblings. Isa needed to keep Kol as far away as possible from her. But killing her? No. She wouldn't do that. She owed Freya one and until the theory was proven, she wasn't going to risk killing an innocent.

"Let's grab a few things and take with us for lunch," Isa suggested to Kol. "The sooner I can get a location on Rebekah, the quicker we can go and collect her to return her to the loving arms of your siblings. Maybe that will return us to your brother's good graces."

"Freya, I'd like you to work some more on deciphering the prophecy today. See if you manage to do so," Elijah said kindly. "Niklaus and I shall continue with our plan concerning Lucien and Tristan before Kol and Isa rudely interrupted our civil dinner last night."

"I told you, you shouldn't have come," Klaus shot at his brother, throwing his napkin on his plate and stormed off to his study.

Isa got up to follow Klaus, but Kol grabbed her hand. "Don't. He'll rip off your head."

"No, he won't," she said as she pulled herself free. "Grab some food for lunch, I'll be down in a second," she smiled at him before following the hybrid up the stairs to his study. Once there, she closed the door and hugged him, and she was going to hold on to him for as long as he tolerated.

He wasn't sure what the little Mouse was doing, but he tolerated it for a few minutes. "Isa, what are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a hug that you desperately need," she replied softly, still not letting go of him. "I know you're scared. I know that the witch managed to lift the curse that was placed on the wolves and I know you're scared of losing your daughter. I know that the idea of the prophecy scares you shitless and that you hate having to deal with your progeny. And that's alright. Everything's going to be alright."

"Right now, I'm more annoyed by you holding on to me."

"Tough," she tightened her hold on him and breathed in his scent. "I'm alright with you thinking that I'm crazy or not right in the head if that makes you feel better," she said as she looked up to him. "But you have to stop doing that in front of your brother. He looks up to you and you're making it really hard for him to be with me, because he loves you."

"That's none of-"

"Yes, it is. All he wanted was to be part of the family. Part of the pact you share with Elijah and Rebekah. We came to New Orleans despite your wishes, because you're his brother, Niklaus. You're in trouble. The entire family is in trouble if you don't stand united. That's including the mother of your child." She gently caressed his cheek and smiled at him. "Trying to push me away won't work on me, Nik. I'm the vampire who waited, remember? I'm nothing but durable."

"I wanted you both to stay away from here with Lucien, Tristan and Aurora stomping about, and not for selfish reasons, but for Kol. And yourself, of course, but mainly to give my brother a part of his life back."

"And yet, here he is. To help save his family. Also to raise some hell, which is so much fun."

"You have to be careful, Little Mouse. You're only a year older than they are, they may be able to match your strength. Not to mention, they have combat experience."

"And I wrestle bears for their blood without getting a scratch," she pointed out. "Don't discard your brother. He genuinely wants to help, he knows more than he lets on," she smiled at him then. "And relax, will you. You're so tightly wound despite your appearances that you're upsetting the vines."

"I'm what?"

Isa rolled her eyes at him. "Relax. And no more sex with Aurora."

"How did you know that?"

"The vines," she said simply before giving him a peck on his cheek and almost skipped away to join her fiancé for their trip to the Bayou.

~o.O.o~

She had been in the water in the Bayou for hours now, and Kol wasn't complaining. He had brought a good bottle of bourbon with him and while leaning against Ezekiel, he watched his fiancé float around, eyes closed and an intense look on her face. But he wasn't complaining. He was quite enjoying the view.

"Does she have to be naked?"

Kol looked up to see the wolf girl standing next to him and smiled. "I don't know, but you don't hear me complain," he countered before looking back into the water. "Nik sent you to check up on us?"

"No, he sent me to clear out anything belonging to me or Jackson in that shed over there so you two can take up temporary residence. Are you sure you want to be in there? It's drafty and the roof leaks when it rains."

"Isa's cabin has a big tree in the middle, sticking out from the roof. In fact, she built the roof around it. I'm used to it by now. Strangely enough, the cabin is quite warm and dry."

"Interesting," Hayley said as she eyed the girl in the water. "She's hot."

"Stop looking at my fiancé as if she's your next meal. It's likely you'll be hers."

"Hey, you two at the water's edge," Isa's voice sounded. "Could you please shut up? I'm trying to learn a whole new language here!"

"Ah, I see what Klaus meant that she was a little crazy," Hayley said, dropping her voice almost to a whisper. "Does she really talk to trees?"

"And animals. Birds. Plants. And now fish, apparently."

"Shut up!" Isa growled. "Don't make me come out and slap you silly!"

"How about you ride my-"

"Kol! I'm serious! Fish are stupid creatures! Their language is insanely hard and they mumble. Mumble! Because they're under water! And getting one out of the water would be potentially harmful so shut the fuck up and let me concentrate!"

"Oh, that's so hot," Kol countered with a big smile on his face, taking another sip of bourbon. "Your time as Bella has done your vocabulary some good!"

Isa rushed to the shore and snapped Kol's neck before she looked at Hayley. "If you can clean out that cabin in silence, you may proceed, but otherwise, you're next," she threatened. "I'm trying to find Rebekah and you two are a major distraction."

Hayley swallowed hard. "I'll uh… I'll come back in a few hours."

"Good," Isa grabbed the bottle of alcohol and took a few big gulps before going back into the water. At least with Hayley now gone, and Kol unconscious, she could continue to try and understand the stupid fish. She remembered trying to do this once before, but eventually gave up because the trees could tell her so much more. However, in this case, the trees remained silent. Not a whisper about Rebekah or having seen something being dropped in the water. The only solution was to ask the fish. And their memory spans were worse than that of a gnat.

Eventually, Isa got frustrated and decided they needed to head out to the ocean, or at least deeper water where there were bigger fish. She didn't like floating around in the water much, and she had to punch a crocodile or two for getting too close and not listening to her to stay away. That she wasn't a meal.

She got out of the water and wrapped herself in a towel before nudging Kol with her foot. "Wake up, sleepy head. I know you're pretending to be asleep."

"Did you get Rebekah's location?" He asked hopeful.

"No. We need to get to the other side of the Bayou that reaches into the Gulf of Mexico. The fish here are stupid. Probably because they don't get to see much of the world."

"Then why did you choose this spot?"

"I didn't! You did!" She smacked him on his shoulder after he'd gotten up. It didn't take them too long to pack up and move to the other side, which was a less preferable area for Kol because there was even more dirt. "You could always join me in the water," she smiled. "As long as you shut up."

"No, I'm good. I'm afraid that if I join you, you won't be able to talk to the fish at all or the fish will think you're a pervert."

"But I am," she winked as she dropped her towel and walked back into the water. "Nothing new there, my love!" Isa nosedived into the water and was submerged for quite some time before she floated back to the surface and stayed there.

All Kol could see were her beautiful breasts and her toes, but after listening closely, he could tell that she was still with him. "Have you ever thought about our wedding in the last thousand years?"

"Yes," she replied as she kept floating. It was easier now, to communicate. There was a pod of dolphins close by and they had already picked up on her intentions. Some of them had swum off to look for Rebekah in different waters, and it was only a matter of time before she'd learn where she was. "Have you?"

"Obviously not. Tell me, what do you wish for our wedding?"

"Just you and me, declaring eternal love and commitment to each other, no clergyman or priestess to bear witness, just us. Then again, we're practically married already so…"

"You don't want anything official then?"

"Kol, we're blessed with eternal life! Well, you more than me but that makes it official for me. Granted, as a little girl I had always wanted for my father to bring me into your loving hands. I'd wear the best dress I could make or my father could afford and we'd have a party after being blessed by Ayana or our village elder. We'd dance to the music made by musicians from our community and eat from the pigs that have been roasting over a fire for the entire day." She inhaled deeply. "Nothing beats the smell of that succulent piece of meat, the way it'll fall apart in your mouth… heaven. Then, while the party is still going on, you'd take me to your bed and make me yours in another way."

"Oh, that pig sounds amazing," he said as he begrudgingly sat down in the sand. She had envisioned the most normal wedding ever, just like Rebekah, although Rebekah had always wanted to be a princess. She was girly like that. Isa had never been a girl. More like half a boy, climbing trees with him, doing stupid stuff together and of course, not afraid of blood. "I like the idea, now bring that to this century, darling."

"Why?"

"The wedding is a great excuse for the biggest party of the year at the compound, come on, party. Party!"

"At the compound?" She stopped floating to look at him from her spot in the water. "What? With your family?"

"Of course with my family," Kol huffed. "Knowing Elijah, he'd probably want to invite some important people over as well, and maybe some witches and whatnot."

"No."

"A party isn't a party without people, Isa."

"But what about Geezer? Mark? Amy? Paula and the rest of _my_ family?"

"We can't go to Mystic Falls until Geezer tells you it's safe, Isa."

"Then we'll wait," she huffed as she started to float again. "I'll agree to the party, but we'll have the trees on our wedding."

He let out a whine and crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to watch her. "Just you wait until Rebekah comes back!"

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, June 22nd, 2013**

"The bloody Niagara Falls!" Rebekah fumed as she walked into the dining room, picture perfect as always. "It took your minions far too long to get me back to the surface Nik, but thanks for the rescue."

"You're welcome, sister. Welcome home."

Rebekah huffed as she sat down next to Isa and started to put food on her plate. "I'm just surprised that they told you where I was. Or did you have to torture it out of them? That would have been lovely! Sad I missed that."

"Well, actually, we had a little help," Freya smiled at Rebekah and nodded towards Isa. "She found you."

"Oh please don't tell me you're still talking to those blasted trees."

"Fish, actually. Dolphins," Isa countered and scooped some chicken onto her fork. "New experience for me, so yay."

"Yay?"

"I learned new things, roll with it," Isa smiled and put the food in her mouth. "Glad you're back, Rebekah, these dummies need you."

"Ha!" Klaus let out. "She was safe at the bottom of the Falls, now she's not. Same with you two, but you came anyway."

Rebekah lowered her gaze upon her brother before looking at Isa with a big smile on her face. "Since Nik obviously doesn't want our help with dealing with the Trinity, we should focus on your wedding to my brother. What are you going to wear?"

"My clothes?"

"She's going to be naked," Kol grinned. "My Isa's going to be naked and that's got my vote. I'll be naked too."

"Oh, ew," Freya said as she made a gagging motion.

"No, a dress. A pretty dress specially made for you," Rebekah grinned. "Trust me, you'll love it. Kol will be wearing a suit and I'm going to make sure you'll have a dress you'll love."

"Forget it, Rebekah," Kol said with a snort. "She wants to get wed in Mystic Falls with her trees, so until we're allowed to return back there, there won't be a wedding."

Rebekah huffed. "There are trees in the Bayou if you hadn't noticed."

"Oh, that's right!" Kol smiled brightly at Isa. "And Ezekiel's there, so you still have someone of your family present."

"You brought a tree to New Orleans?" Elijah blinked at that. Granted, nothing surprised him anymore when it came to Isa, but to bring an entire tree?

"Ezekiel was ailing and I didn't want to leave him on his own in Mystic Falls. With his roots soon to be deeply rooted in New Orleans soil, there'll be a forever connection from here to Mystic Falls."

"There's something called a telephone, dear Isa."

Isa smirked as she defiantly looked at Elijah, crossing her arms and leaned on the dinner table in challenge. "Please, point me to a tree that can use a phone."

Klaus had been observing the little exchange between his siblings and Isa. While it was still strange, and hard to wrap his mind around it, maybe Isa was able to talk to nature. She had correctly located Rebekah and she simply knew things that were impossible to know. More and more, he was leaning to wanting to believe her, but he also didn't want to believe her because right now, the so-called prophecy that was making its rounds made life interesting.

Isa said it was fake, and he didn't want it to be fake. He wanted something to fight against, other than the terrible threesome that seem to want to instill nothing but panic and fear. He was at his best when he had something to fight for; such as his Aunt only a couple months ago. His Mother and Father before that. With the prophecy fake, it would deflate the entire situation and that wasn't _fun_.

Isa had thought about the wedding after her chat with Kol in the Bayou and realized he wanted an ordinary wedding. Since Rebekah came up with the Bayou idea, she had somewhat warmed up to the idea of it being slightly bigger than she wanted. This also meant that she needed someone to give her away and the person she had in mind would be amazing for the task. "I want Damon to give me away to Kol."

"What?" Klaus and Elijah nearly choked on their drink.

"What? Damon's practically family to me. I took care of him and Stefan, kept an eye on them for years. He and I share a bond. He's going to give me away."

The brothers looked at Kol, who simply shrugged. "Don't ask. If that's what she wants, we'll get her what she wants, even if it involves compelling the asshole to do so."

"He'll do it," Isa nodded, sure of herself. "Because it's for me."

"You do realize that we don't like the Salvatore brothers?"

"Get over it."

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, July 31st 2013**

Rebekah had been right when she said that they'd get her a dress she'd absolutely love. They had gone to various shops, spoken to various designers to get opinions and see sketches, but Isa didn't like the modern feel of most dresses. Some were gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous with a wide skirt or a multi-layered skirt, but it wasn't _her_. Rebekah, at one point, lost her patience and shoved pen and paper into Isa's hands so she could draw what she wanted and have someone make it for her.

That had been the best idea ever. The dress felt comfortable and it was perfect. The skirt of the dress looked like a flower, or a tree, or a lily and Rebekah had joked that it made her look like a wood nymph. It had been a mocking joke, but when Rebekah said that, Isa knew she wanted the dress. While she agreed with Kol about having a modern wedding, she wouldn't budge on three things; the dress, the trees and Damon, much to every Mikaelson's chagrin.

The top of her dress was modern-ish. Isa certainly noticed she had a good set of breasts in her dress, and she liked that too; it would distract Kol immensely and the mere thought of him staring at her with his jaw dropped to the floor made her want to have her way with him.

Apart from the dress, Isa hadn't been allowed to contribute in the wedding preparation, Kol told her that everything would be a surprise and that she should simply relax and not ask her trees what they were up to. Of course, she couldn't help but overhear Ezekiel talking to Brent, the nearest tree to him as they were observing the preparations. She was more than excited to hear that there were indeed several open fires with game roasting above them.

Isa thought it would only be fair for the werewolves to be at the party, not at the wedding, but at the party, as the Bayou was their land, much to everyone else's objection. But Isa liked Jackson. She didn't like Hayley, but she liked Jackson. He had a good head on his broad shoulders and he was nice. Believed her immediately when she said that the trees spoke to her.

Jackson's grandmother, Mary, was a shaman for the wolves and she agreed to marry Kol and Isa, but only because she really liked Isa despite not liking vampires at all. She understood that Isa wanted a somewhat 'earthy' wedding, while her fiancé wanted it more modern. Mary knew that Isa was special, not because she was a vampire, but due to her heritage, the heritage that Isa knew about due to Esther and Finn discussing it while she was in their presence.

Isa hadn't told Kol about it. Or anyone else. It wasn't important. She was Isa. Daughter of Karl. Kol's beloved. Treehugger. Woodnymph. She wasn't even sure if she'd have used the knowledge if Kol hadn't started to believe her, to believe in her, because it sounded ridiculous. 'Oh, one of my ancestors was a forest spirit, how amazing is that?' That sounded crazy.

Everyone was already gathering, but Isa couldn't find Damon. Or her trees couldn't, and she was worried that he wouldn't come. She had spoken to him on the phone after Kol called his number, and he was more than excited to leave Mystic Falls for the day, but what if something had happened to him? She had her trees look for him, but they moved slowly and eventually asked a bird to seek him out.

But he still wasn't there. But he was alive, otherwise she'd have known.

She quickly opened the door and was relieved when she stared into Damon's face. He had a big smile plastered on it and she pulled him inside to hug him tightly. "Oh, I'm so happy you made it!"

"Of course," Damon replied as he returned the hug. "I could use a breather from mom and hunter trouble."

"Hunter trouble?"

"Ah, don't worry your pretty little head. We're dealing with it, it's fine," he said, waving away her concern. "Today's your day. Your big day. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course I am."

"Okay, good, because I don't think that anyone would like to get on Kol's bad side."

"Even if I refused him now, he'd get hurt, but he'd get over it."

"Doubt that, sweetcheeks," Damon winked at her and then pointed at her dress. "That's so you."

"You like it?" She beamed with pride. "It took us quite some time to settle on this one. I had to draw it myself!"

"I love it."

"Oh!" She said as she started to bounce around. "Did you see Ezekiel? He's doing great! He's already rooted himself into the soil and there's no chance he'll be uprooted again or get ill again because he's being looked after by so many wolves!"

"You're nervous, aren't you?" He laughed as he leaned against the nearest wall and watched her springiness. "Tiny thousand year old woodnymph is nervous!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"I so am not nervous," she stopped dead in her tracks and took a deep breath. "Maybe a little," she eventually admitted. "But I feel as if I shouldn't be. I've waited so long for him. It hurt so much and-"

"Now it's finally happening."

"Yes, but without my father's official permission," she said sadly.

"Welcome to the 21st century, Isa," Damon said as he put his arms around her and gently caressed her back. "You don't need anyone's permission but your own to do whatever you want. You deserve this. You deserve to be finally officially bound to Kol, even though I can't stand the guy. I'll gladly accept him as your husband as it'll make you happy."

"I'm already happy," she sighed as she breathed in his scent. "You're here. Kol's here. Ezekiel's here. That's all that matters, the rest is just for show."

"Uhuh, and you know what? The meat that has been roasting over those fires all day? Smells delicious."

She grinned. "That was one of Kol's surprises you just spoiled. But then again, I was already spoiled. I can smell it and the trees told me."

"Yeah, can't keep a secret from you, huh?" He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Well, I think they're ready for us. Are you?"

~o.O.o~

If he had to be honest, he was quite chuffed by how things had turned out. He had expected the decorations to be somewhat problematic as he didn't want anything to be pinned into the trees - for Isa's sake, not his - but there were other ways to do it and it worked. There wasn't a breeze, so everything was safe. Freya had made a bowtie for Ezekiel and had carefully wrapped it around his trunk, knowing that Isa would love the acceptance.

At times he felt as if he was too much in control for the wedding, but Rebekah assured him he wasn't, she did the most of it anyway, taking in account Kol's and Isa's wishes and she had done a bang up job. It was incredible. Magical, even. His only hope was that Isa would love it too, she'd been locked in the cabin for almost two days, with last night being on her own. Damn his sister for being old fashioned.

And he hated wearing a monkey suit. Too restrictive, but he looked handsome in it. Isa was going to faint on her way to the altar for sure when she'd look at him. Yes. Grinning to himself, he saw the door of the cabin open and sucked in a breath. He was nervous, he shouldn't be, but he was nervous nonetheless. He didn't do commitment very well, which was why he preferred whores in the past, or no sires, but he'd do commitment for Isa, as he had always been committed to her.

He couldn't believe his eyes when Damon escorted Bella down the aisle. The dress was perfect in every single way. It accentuated all of her best bits that she liked to hide from the rest of the world with her dress sense, and she looked as if she had stepped out of a fairy tale. Maybe she _was_ Tinkerbell. Who knew?

"Breathe, brother," Elijah murmured as he nudged him with his elbow.

"Right," he said, letting out the breath that he forgot to let out before. He was absolutely gobsmacked with her looks. Her hair was done nicely by Rebekah and Freya and the dress. Damn, the dress. Her boobs. Her dress. Her bare feet. He laughed at that, he found it hilarious, and predictable, which was why he wasn't wearing any shoes either. Just for the heck of it. She was perfect.

"Where's that smart mouth of you now, brother?" Klaus smirked at him. "No sharp remarks?"

"Shut up, Niklaus, I'm ogling my woman."

"More like drooling."

"She's not wearing any shoes!" Rebekah gasped, wanting to make her way over to Isa and force her into her shoes, but she was stopped by Freya who pointed at Kol, showing Rebekah that he wasn't wearing any shoes either. "You two are insane," she huffed. "Spend 200 bucks on her shoes and she's walking without them."

~o.O.o~

After the wonderfully short ceremony performed by Mary, which included a blessing she gave all of her married couples, even though Kol and Isa weren't werewolves, it was time for good music and food. Marcel and Cami had been in charge of finding some local bands to play music for them and Isa loved it. She liked seeing everyone so happy, and even the trees seemed to appreciate it. The birds, not so much.

She had compelled one of the cooks to allow her access to the pig that was still roasting above the fire and started to tear little pieces off of it, trying to stop a moan from escaping her lips, but wasn't able to. Giggling when all eyes turned on her, she popped another piece of pork in her mouth and joined her husband. Her husband. That was so bizarre.

She used to have the feeling that it was unattainable, that they'd never see each other again, but it was official now; they were married. She was no longer Isa Karlsdotter, but Isa Mikaelson. Which was also quite scary, but safe. Everyone was afraid of the Mikaelsons, it would give her protection should she and Kol get separated again.

Her head snapped up to Lola, the tree that Kol had been standing at as he chatted away with a witch - Niklaus was reluctant to inviting some of the figureheads of the witches as well on Marcel's insistence, as the werewolves were at the party and he didn't want to risk the witches thinking that the balance of power would shift. He made it clear that none of the other parties were invited to the wedding, except for Jackson and Hayley but that was because of Hope. However, he would have been a fool not to see the potential to gain back some positivity with the spoiled witches.

What Lola was saying didn't sound too good, and hoped that the intruders would stay away.

Klaus enjoyed seeing the wolves having a good time. Despite his hatred for some of them, they were having fun and that was what mattered. A day of truce. He could continue hating them tomorrow. He was curious when Davina made sure she stayed away from everyone, almost as if she was a shy little butterfly, afraid to get squashed, and he was going to see if she was up for a little chat. "Why the long face, Davina? Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

"We didn't actually believe there would be a real wedding. We figured the party was some kind of a trap," she replied curtly, crossing her arms over her chest and nodded towards the girl. "I remember Kol flirted with me to befriend me the last time I saw him, where did he dig up that girl?"

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy, little witch?" Klaus asked amused. "Surely a girl in your position can't have any feelings for a vampire. An Original, at that."

"I haven't always been in this position and you know it," she replied sharply. "But I see that I was foolish to believe that Kol actually cared about me."

"Kol did care," he immediately countered. "He's very fond of witches, especially those of your line. Should the need arise, he'd be the first vampire to throw himself in front of you to protect you. But not at the risk of his wife now that he's reunited with her."

She looked at him, curiously. "He's different with her, more… mellowed out. The way he moves around her, almost as if he's molded against her for support or something. It's nice," she eventually said. "But surely, I'd have imagined that a Mikaelson would go for someone with a better head on their shoulders. It's like she's not even there."

"Are you insulting Isa?" Klaus asked with a smirk. "Don't let her appearance fool you, little witch. She has a nasty bite."

"Please," Davina huffed.

"Just know that I wouldn't have agreed with this union if there was something wrong with my brother's mate," when he looked over to Kol and Isa, he could see a cloud of thunder appear on her face. "Excuse me for a moment, I think the bride's unhappy."

"Niklaus!" Aurora's voice sounded just as he was about to go over to Isa.

"And I just found out why…" he muttered as he turned to the sound and saw her, her brother and Lucien approach the party site. "Strange, I don't remember sending you an invite."

"You should have! I could have come as your date!"

"You're having a party without us, Nik? How positively rude!" Lucien scowled.

"It's a family only affair," he responded curtly.

Tristan pointed at Davina and then the rest of the wolves in protest.

"The wolves are family as they are the pack of my daughter's mother. The little witch is family as well. You three, are merely the product of our indiscretions and do not belong here."

Aurora's eyes grew big as saucers. "Niklaus! You don't mean that!" She said offended in her shrill voice, causing everyone to stop talking and look at them. "How dare you treat us like that! We ARE family. You love me, Niklaus!"

The only sounds that could be heard around them were the sounds of crackling fire and a low, threatening growl coming from Isa. Muffled. When Klaus looked over his shoulder, he could see that Kol had put his hand over Isa's mouth and smirked before turning around to the spoiled brat in front of him.

"Yes, this isn't fair, Niklaus," Lucien said, clearly hurt by the snub from his maker.

"Very well," Klaus said with a slight nod. "I'll allow you to stay under a few conditions; you'll play nice and you stay away from Kol and Isa. Do not believe for one second that I will hesitate to kill you if you step only one foot out of line."

"No, you won't. The prophecy-"

"I'm not afraid of the prophecy, now, enjoy yourself and behave," Klaus said pleasantly before turning back to Davina. "Where were we?"

"I don't want them here," Isa muttered as she pulled Kol away from the party. "Please tell me that Nik didn't just allowed them to stay."

"Would you rather have them throw a tantrum in New Orleans, my love? At least here, we can keep an eye on them."

"I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it, I don't like it either, but there are plenty of ways to keep ourselves occupied," he smiled at her, pulling her back to the party where everyone had gone back to doing what they did before the rude interruption by the children. Servers were setting up tables with plates and other kinds of food apart from the fire cooked game. He took her to the dance floor and pulled her closer, before he started to move at the sound of music. "Like dancing."

She let out a breath and closed her eyes for a second to push the thought of the trio away and looked up to Kol with so much love all over her face that he thought that she was going to burst. "I like this," she said as she put her arms around him. "But I know another way to have fun," she added with a devious smile on her face. "It involves you helping me out of this dress."

"Ah, not yet, darling," he grinned at her. "The night is still young. There's lovely food and more fun to be had."

"No, Tristan!" Aurora shrieked as she nearly stumbled into Lucien. "That's not fair!"

Isa closed her eyes and counted to ten. "I don't want them here. Make them leave. Please."

"What is she going to do to stop us? She's a baby vamp and they won't do anything," Aurora's nagging voice swam around in Isa's head.

"Aurora, this is why I didn't take you to New Orleans with me. You're still ill," Tristan tried to calm her down. "You're ruining everything."

"Yes, such as my clothes," Rebekah piped up as she joined the quarrelling siblings. "Thank you so much for dumping me in the water, Aurora, that was much appreciated," she said sarcastically as she wanted to reach for the girl's heart and remove it from her chest, but refrained, because now was not the time for revenge.

"How did you-"

"Family secret," Rebekah said playfully as she lowered her gaze upon the girl. "But do understand that I'm extremely angry with you and that you _will_ pay. Not today, but I will make you suffer for what you've done."

"Allow me to help," an all too familiar voice sounded as he emerged from the shadows. "Her day should be perfect and not ruined by squabbling children."

Isa felt how her perfect happy feeling turned into a dark, seething rage and crossed the space between her and Jasper before anyone could react. She pushed him so hard that he fell into one of the fire pits that had been cleared out of game and she jumped right on top of him. The flames were already licking his skin and she ignored the burning of her own. She'd been through worse.

"You have some balls to show up!" She said as she hit him in the face. "How dare you! What did you want to do? Make everyone at this party your puppets like you've had me under your spell for three fucking months?"

"Isa, I-"

"No!" She tore off Jasper's head and pushed it on the stick that previously held the animal carcass and jumped out of the fire, taking pleasure in how his blood caught on fire and burned him, scorching his face with his own body.

Everyone had gone quiet again, in awe by how Isa had taken care of the vampire. The trinity stood there, watching with their jaws on the floor and she took advantage out of that by pulling Tristan's heart out and tossing it on top of Jasper.

This caused Aurora to snap out of what she'd just witnessed and _she_ went into rage mode as she started to throw punches at Isa who managed to avoid a few. Isa was faster, she wasn't a skilled fighter, but she was fast, and she could take down angry bears who didn't want her to feed on them (but sometimes eating a bear was just so good).

Isa managed to draw her away from the party to avoid any other casualties and managed to fight off Aurora for quite some time before Lucien joined in on the fight. "This is impossible! We're the first sired, you can't be stronger than us!" Lucien grabbed a piece of her dress and ripped it.

"I don't know if I'm stronger than you," Isa said as she broke Lucien's arm while she kicked Aurora away from her. "But I am faster. You're nothing but spoiled brats! On," she kicked Lucien in the shins as Aurora came back at her. "My. Fucking. Wedding," she continued between punches. "You make me ruin my dress!" She got the air knocked out of her when Aurora charged at her again, colliding with her, causing her to fall down. Isa grabbed Aurora's hair and kicked her off of her.

Isa got up again and looked at her hand, realizing that she was holding a handful of Aurora's hair and a piece of her scalp before casually discarding it and assuming a defensive stance as she saw the hesitating looks on Lucien's and Aurora's faces. Isa was more than capable of holding her own, especially fuelled by her rage, but it was well placed. "Do you really feel as if you should be included in _everything_ that they do? That it's your right to party crash a party? Do you have no boundaries, at all?"

"You should treat us with respect, little one," Lucien breathed as he started to circle her, mimic Aurora's movement around the tiny vampire as if she was going to be their next prey. "Despite you having had the element of surprise on Tristan, you won't get lucky a second time."

"Third, actually," Isa countered. "But I suppose you don't think that a Cold One is a vampire, do you?"

"Isa, that's enough." Klaus commanded angrily. Tristan's death was going to have a huge impact on the vampire community, he didn't want to see what would happen if Isa would kill Lucien. His sire. Elijah was standing next to him, fuming.

"No!" she yelled at him. "And I swear, Niklaus, if you or anyone else tries to interfere, I will hurt you."

"You allow her to talk to you like that?" Aurora questioned him. "Kill her, Nik!"

Isa let out a low growl, causing Klaus to throw up his hands in defeat. "You're alone on this one, love. I prefer to have my cock still attached to my balls, thank you very much."

"Oh yeah, she's good at breaking dicks," Damon remarked. "Not recommended. And as Klaus told the little witch here, appearances are deceiving. That tiny monster packs a mean punch, being the first sired and all."

"Damon!" Kol shot at him. "That was one detail we didn't want our guests to know!"

Lucien and Aurora stopped dead in their tracks and turned to their sires. "Is this true?" Lucien said hurt. "You made us believe we were the first!"

"You are," Klaus said annoyed as he had snapped Damon's neck for his stupidity. "Of mine and Rebekah's, seeing as your brother is now dead, so that takes Elijah's out of the equation."

"Oh, that's very smart," Lucien said with a conspiring smirk on his face. "Oh, that is brilliant."

"What?" Aurora asked.

"Don't you see, Aurora? They made us believe that Kol was dead, seeing as there were no vampires of his line, they could easily make us believe that."

"Yeah, until he showed up."

"With Isa."

"Hi," Isa smiled widely and punched Lucien in the gut before reaching for his cock and twisted it, causing him to double over. "Ever heard the expression of 'the baby was an accident?' well, hi! I'm Kol's little accident! But I don't blame him, really. We were the best of friends growing up and he was new."

"You're my happy little accident, darling."

Isa giggled as she kneed Lucien in the face, but got blocked when she tried to push him over. She rolled away from him and got back to her feet. "And how do you dare to accuse them of misdirection while your plan was to cause panic amongst my family with your fake prophecy?"

When she saw the surprised and shocked looks on their faces, she laughed. "I knew it! I knew it was fake!" She said happily and jumped around for a bit, proud of herself. "Oh, let me guess, your seer was a great faker. In bed too, I imagine. Did she write those horrid fortune cookies in the Chinese restaurants too?"

"How did you… but…" Lucien stammered.

"Because that's what them lot would do," she said as she thumbed over her shoulder towards her family. "In fact, they've done it in the past with a few things here and there. Their biggest mistake was siring you because you're just as clever and ruthless as they are. Your charm might have fooled them, but not me. Nope."

Isa turned around and pulled Aurora down to her level, taking her into a choke hold. "You're so arrogant, your only wish was to make sure that they wouldn't die so you could live on, with an imaginary weapon!"

"No, it's real, we've found records…" Lucien started as he looked at the Mikaelsons, Kol had the biggest smirk on his face. "You absolute loon!"

"Hey!" Isa snapped. "I'm the only person who can call him that!" She reached into Aurora's chest cavity and ripped out her heart before throwing it at Lucien's head. Dropping the body, she got blood splattered all over her, but didn't care. She lunged at Lucien and used him as a punching bag.

"You're stupid. You're an arrogant, stupid little vampire who thinks he owns the world. Well guess what, asshole?" She swung her leg to have him fall on the ground and sat down on top of him. "Your days are over." She snapped his neck and then continued to pull on his head until it came off.

She laughed as the sheer force caused her to fall backwards into the sand, still clutching Lucien's head. "That was fun!" She cheered as she threw the head away, into the river, before snapping off Aurora's leg and pierced Lucien's heart with the other vampire's heel for good measure. "So much fun!" She dusted herself off, getting more blood on her dress, before she rejoined the party. "I'm hungry now, let's eat!"

She looped her arm through Kol's and made her way over to the roasted pig. "It's delicious."

Slightly annoyed by Lucien's demise, Klaus steered Davina away from the carnage. "Don't worry, little witch, Kol and Isa made their home in Mystic Falls," he said in a low voice. "But if I find out that you, or one of your witches, have harmed them in any way, I will retaliate."

"She's nuts!" Davina hissed. "She's unstable!"

"She's actually quite stable, love. You just need to stay on her good side, that's all."

~o.O.o~

 **Mystic Falls. September 4th, 2013**

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?" Isa asked angrily as she watched Damon walk towards the open coffin.

"I'm giving up."

"No, you're not."

"Isa, come on," Damon whined. "I don't want to live without Elena. I know that you've done it for Kol, but let me do this. I'm not you."

"No," she grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the Salvatore home, followed by a confused Stefan. "There have been many times I wanted to simply dessicate to forget the pain I was feeling. Most of the times I worked on half strength, lived on one animal a month, but it's not worth to allow yourself to completely dessicate. It's only 60 years, you big baby."

"If Bonnie doesn't survive longer!"

"Then boohoo, make it 70 years. 80. Whatever," she rolled her eyes at him. "I will not allow you to do that to yourself. Nor allow Stefan to agree to this."

"Hey, leave me out of this!"

Isa turned to Stefan and glared at him. "Then leave like you planned. Your brother isn't going anywhere. He's staying with me, to help me and Kol rebuild Mystic Falls."

"Oh come on!" Damon objected. "You can't make me!"

"I can't, but Kol can," Isa smirked as she waved at Stefan. "Bye bye, Stefan. Have fun living your life!" She said and started to drag Damon away to the woods. "Kol said you could have a branch to sleep on, it's going to be great."

"Isa, please, no."

Isa merely smirked as she reached out to his private parts.

"Ouch! You bitch!"

"Shut up, you big baby."

The End

 **A/N:** Meeko made a joke about a future "Two Mikaelsons and a Salvatore, living beneath a tree..." I might be tempted in the future. But for now, I have other projects to write and I hope that my muses behave and not scatter into different directions for different stories :-)

Thank you so much for reading and commenting, I hope you had just as much fun as I had writing it!

Meeko and I just uploaded a new story to our shared ff account meekobuggy, it's a Person of Interest/The Originals crossover.


	5. Swing

**A/N: YES. I know this is a complete story. I just couldn't help myself. xxx**

* * *

 **Mystic Falls, February 12th, 2015**

It had been nearly two years since she saved Damon from desiccating himself because he didn't want to live without Elena. Nearly two years since she and Kol got married after a thousand years. Life was pretty good, her trees were doing well. Especially Ezekiel, who she planted in New Orleans. The soil had done him some good and, according to all the other trees, he had started to repair himself again and grow.

She and Kol hadn't been back to New Orleans since their wedding for various reasons. One of them being Damon. Despite having Kol have compelled the desire to desiccate himself out of Damon, he was still depressed. Sure, Isa kept him busy by telling him what to do in Mystic Falls to help rebuild the city after they finally got rid of Julian and killed the remaining opposing heretics. Valerie, who had been an ally, had taken off and nobody had heard from her since.

They'd been able to stay hidden from the mess that Stefan and Damon had originated by pulling Damon's mother out of the prison world because her cabin was a secret and well protected from magic. If you didn't know about it, you were not going to find it. It's what kept her safe all these years. The witch Ayana had always been good to her once she found her.

And yes, she had said that she wouldn't meddle in the mess that they had created, but when Stefan decided to take his chances and leave, leaving Damon on his own, she couldn't help but to feel sorry for him and take him in.

Damon rehab. And he'd been nothing but a petulant child. Isa didn't like Elena, it was good that she had a time-out, but for the sake of shutting up Damon, she'd liked to hunt down Bonnie Bennett and rip her heart out so that Elena could live again. And then Isa would tell him how bad Elena is for him.

While the thought was nice and all, she knew that Damon liked Bonnie, too, and she didn't want him to hate her. But her patience was growing thin. Kol's patience had already worn out several times. During the first winter he was with them, he had dug a Damon-sized hole underneath Geezer the tree where he could stand, but not lay down, and had buried him neck deep because he had grown tired of him whining. Of course, Kol had compelled him to shut up and stay there until they'd be able to come and get him again.

They had left Damon there for a couple of days while they had the cabin all to themselves, having sex as much as possible and generally enjoy each other's company.

It wasn't fair towards Kol that he had to suffer through Damon's presence. Maybe it had been a bad idea on Isa's behalf; she was so used to taking care of the Salvatores that maybe it was time to let them go. She had already made the first step by not interfering when Damon brought his mother back, and maybe, if he wanted to desiccate, he had to be allowed to. It was just frustrating that that thought made him weak. Un-Damony.

But Isa had gone through a long period of not being herself as well, several, actually, and she had grown only stronger from it, so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to let Damon go; let him do whatever he wanted and she'd see when he'd pop up again.

Amy and Geezer were telling her to let him go, and Kol - the tree, not her husband - told her that she was basically taking away the choice for Damon, the choice to do what he wanted, free will. And she wasn't too happy about it, either. It was not what she had wanted, to be selfish. _Selfish_.

Even the word was rude. The Mikaelsons were _selfish_ , and even though she was now a Mikaelson through marriage, it wasn't one of her traits. Or it shouldn't have been.

Just because 'her boys' wanted to flee and stick their heads in the sand didn't mean that she had to do everything to control them. She let Stefan go, so why couldn't she allow Damon to do the same?

Who was she to decide that keeping Damon from starving himself so that time would pass faster was a bad thing for him? She wasn't his mother. She'd looked out for him all these years, but did it really give her the right to keep him from doing that to himself? No, it didn't.

It didn't.

She'd been acting selfishly over the last two years, and that wasn't right. It wasn't nice, and she realized she had a lot to make up for towards her husband.

Isa had cooked them a meal over the open fire and they were sharing it inside the cabin. It was nice and cozy and because it was Valentine's day, Kol had brought her a bundle of flowers and there was a cow strapped to the cabin on the outside. Meat for days and blood for one. Or two, if she decided to share, but Kol didn't like animal blood much.

After dinner, Isa put her arms around Damon and hugged him tightly. "I have a present for you," she said as she smiled up to him.

"And not even for me?" Kol huffed.

She looked at her husband and smiled widely. "And it's also a present for you, husband. I want you to release Damon from your compulsion and give him his free will back."

"Are you sure, Darling?" Kol smiled widely. He was more than happy to see Damon Salvatore go. He had come so close to killing him permanently over the last two years and always refrained because his wife had taken a liking to him. Damon was her family, and Kol still had difficulties accepting that.

"Yep," she said as she looked up to the vampire she was hugging. "I am so sorry that I took away your free will. If you want to starve yourself until Elena wakes up, then who am I to stop you? You've been making life difficult for me and Kol since I dragged you away and that's unfair towards Kol. So, now you'll be able to do whatever you want," she smiled up to him before letting go and kissed her husband who was now standing behind her.

"Are you sure, darling?" Oh, why did he ask her that again? Of course she was sure. It was likely that she had thought about this long and hard before finally making this decision.

"We all learn from our mistakes," she smiled up at him and placed her hand on her cheek. "I've made a few along the years, I've kept him from making big mistakes a few times and I learned that in some cases, taking away someone's free will is a bad thing. If Damon wants to go through pain in order not to experience life without his beloved, then who am I to stop him? I've come close doing that several times."

Kol loved every nutty little quirk of Isa's. Granted, it had taken him a while to get used to the whole idea of her talking to trees, but he loved every bit of her. And he loved it even more when she made sense. Like now. He didn't care much for Damon but had accepted his presence as Isa liked him, had cared for him like he had been her son in a way. And now she wanted to set him free.

However, he didn't have the power to do so. Kol had never compelled Damon, he had told him that he was allowed to be a miserable cunt, but for Isa's sake, he was not going to let himself desiccate. They both had read the stories in the cave below the cabin, multiple times, and she had learned that it simply wasn't worth it. When Damon agreed to try, at least, Kol decided that was that.

It was very much unlike him. The only thing he and Damon had in common was Isa, Kol wouldn't mind driving a stake through Damon's heart simply because he could. And to fuck with Nik, to be honest, seeing as he was one of Nik's vampires. However, for Isa, he'd do anything, even if it meant playing nice to the older Salvatore brother, give him some guidance or whatever.

Ugh.

He softly brushed his lips with hers and smiled at her. "I never compelled him, he's just sticking around because he likes you."

Isa's head snapped around to look at Damon, eyes filled with fire. "And you've been behaving like an asshole this entire time!"

Kol blinked at that. Isa wasn't known for using colorful words but after what the Cullens had did to her and now that she was hanging around with him and Damon all the time - _socializing with others_ \- she had picked up a thing here and there and it was hot.

"Because I _am_ miserable," Damon said with a shrug. "I can be miserable and still hang around the one person who actually cares about me. Stefan ran off. Everyone left Mystic Falls when the Heretics settled. Even BonBon left me. And then there was you," he smiled at her. "You've always been there for me even when I didn't know you were. The least I could do was to stick around because you cared enough to stop me."

"Then stop making me worried about you!" she breezed as she pushed him across the cabin. "Stop making things hard on me and Kol! Everytime I try something to cheer you up, I'm met with a scowl!"

"Because what would cheer me up, wouldn't cheer you up, Isa," Damon smiled at her. "I want to go on a spree. Get drunk and kill everything in sight and Mystic Falls is pretty empty."

"We could go to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks," Kol smirked, suddenly liking Damon - a lot. Yes, he loved Isa and he was glad that she allowed them freedom with their own diet so they could still snack on human blood, but most blood came from the hospital or the occasional human. A full on blood fest would be _amazing_.

Both Kol and Damon had the same hopeful look on their faces. Now that she was in the 'yay free will' mood, she sighed and nodded. "Very well, we'll go to Los Angeles so you two can have your fun and on our way back, we'll drop in on your brother in New Orleans. I want to see Ezekiel." She then grabbed Kol and threw him against Damon. "And you two should have opened your mouth sooner!"

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, February 14th, 2016**

So maybe they didn't make it all the way to Los Angeles. Damon wanted to ride the wave of tourists of post-Mardi Gras, have a bigger snack.

She didn't like crowds very much, nor the loud music that bars and clubs brought, but for her husband and her friend, she was going to muddle through it. Because she was hungry too. Unlike them though, she had found herself a quiet corner and pretended to enjoy watching people. Pretty soon someone would come and ask her to dance or have fun. Damon had made sure of that; buying her a dress that was ill-fitting, at least according to her.

Her boobs nearly fell out of the purple number, there was no support at all. Moving felt as if she was wading through mud as it was so tight, but when she had showed it to Kol, it was almost as if he was salivating. He couldn't keep his hands off of her on their way to this particular establishment and if she had to be honest, she kinda liked it.

It had been too long since the three of them had _fun_. Then again, if Damon had communicated his feelings properly before, if she had realized that she was being selfish quicker and if they both had admitted that he wasn't compelled and shit, Isa would have stepped in earlier.

But playing the 'if' game didn't make her feel any better. It didn't help anyone or made the past better and all she could do is live in the present. And hope that Damon would snap out of his misery soon. And her boys needed to communicate better. And she wanted - no, _needed_ \- more alone time with her husband. Now that she knew that Damon was going to stick around for a while longer, she was definitely going to get some.

She didn't like the way the girl was looking at her husband. So smitten. Isa could smell her arousal over every other scent that was in the club. A want, a need, for Kol. Granted, it was part of the whole game, seduce someone, compel that person not to scream, pretend to go in for a kiss and snack instead, but maybe he was taking it a little bit too far. She wasn't even that pretty, quite insulting, if she had to say so herself.

Isa quickly glanced over to Damon, who was doing shots off of a very cute young lady and knew that she could leave him unsupervised for a bit as she hopped off her small perch and made her way over to Kol and the blonde Barbie with legs for days and breasts the size of melons. Probably fake. She circled around them as she weaved through the partying crowd, her eyes firmly fixed on Kol and smirked when he finally caught her eye.

Kol swallowed hard as he spotted his beloved Isa playing _her_ game. Sure, it was great to see that he hadn't lost the ability to flirt before taking a sip after Isa's influence, but Isa worked differently. She observed every kill as if she was a wildling. In essence, she was. She was a wildling who retained enough memory of being human to be civil, normal, but she had the instincts of the animals she hunted.

And while he had seen her hunt animals more often than not, he hadn't actually seen it happen on a human just yet. She was more than happy to take a sip of one of his victims or drink blood from a blood bag when she was in the mood for human. In essence, she didn't like drinking from humans because she loved them to bits. Unless something would happen that would cause her to go into her 'fight or flight mode'. The church massacre had been glorious when she found out that he was still alive. When he found out that she was still around.

But it was then when he realized that she wasn't hunting the human, she was after _him_. "Hello lovely," Isa said as she put her hand on the girl's shoulder to get her attention. "What's your name?"

"D-debi," she stammered. "I'm sorry if I flirted with your man but he came on to _me_."

"Oh, I know," Isa purred as she gently pushed Debi's long hair away from her neck and looked at her husband, her eyes darkened with hunger and lust. "You are pretty. Are your breasts fake?"

"W-what?" Debi snapped her head around to look at Isa. She looked offended and confused at the same time. "What kind of question is that?"

"Are they fake? Your breasts?" she smirked and shrugged. "Simple question."

"Isa, you're being rude," Kol said playfully as he pushed Debi's hair back on the other side of her neck and took a step closer to the girl to wedge her between her and Isa. "My apologies, Debi," he said as he cupped her chin to make her look at him. "She just wants what I want. Keep quiet."

Isa giggled as Kol compelled the girl and bit her neck, keeping her eyes on Kol as she drank from the girl. She took a few sips and then released her. Licking her lips, she then bit her finger to close the holes she had made in the girl's skin. "Delicious."

Kol was less nice about it and nearly drained the girl from all of her blood. The girl was wobbling on her feet when he finally released her. "You're drunk, go back to your hotel and sleep it off," he said to the girl who then nodded and wobbled off.

Isa pulled him to the side of the club and pushed him against the wall as she pulled his head down for a kiss. "I don't like you flirting with others even if it's just for food," she said with a low growl. "You're not going to leave me, are you?"

Kol smirked at that. She was jealous or in a playful mood, wasn't she? "Maybe I am. Sick and tired of being shacked up with Damon because of you." He then winced. That didn't sound playful at all.

Isa looked at him for a moment, her face set in anger and heartbreak.

"It was a joke."

"It didn't sound like one!" Yes, she knew that it wasn't fair of her to have him live with Damon because she wanted to save him, but she had already realized that. She had apologized for it but apparently it was still a sore spot for Kol. Of course it was. "I already said I was sorry I subjected you to that! I was being selfish and I basically held him hostage!"

"Isa, I said it was a joke, calm down," Kol said as he grabbed her and turned them around to push her against the wall, to make sure she would not do something stupid. "I love you. I accepted you wanting to take care of Damon and I know he took advantage out of you - the both of us - because you're the only one who didn't leave him. I don't like him. I'll never like him, but I tolerate him because of you."

She narrowed her eyes on him as he stared her down, his hold on her tightening. "You should have said 'no'."

"And then what? Broke your heart?" He smiled at her. "I wouldn't do anything to break your heart like that, Isa, not anymore. But you could be a little bit forgiving, I've behaved myself in the last few years. Damon sort of behaved himself and now we're letting loose, you have nothing to be jealous about. You're not being fair."

"I am not jealous!" She pushed him away from her. "That girl wanted to have sex with you. I could smell it."

"Yeah, you are jealous," Kol grinned. "Why? Because you think she was pretty?"

"She was a fake! You can do better than that!" Isa huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Had she been really hot, I would have felt better about it, but your taste in humans sucks. Even I look prettier than that Debi, with her fake boobs and a hair color that seemed unnatural."

He blinked at her. _What?_

"Her arousal towards you was insulting." She pointed at Damon, who was still having fun with his pretty ladies and shrugged. "Had you done something like that, with pretty girls, it would have been fine. Debi was so ugly and fake that she deserved to be a snack."

"You're nuts."

"I know," Isa smirked as she took his hand and started to pull him along with her. Her eyes scanning the crowd, finding the perfect girl for Kol to fuck around with. She was beautiful, but she didn't look as cheap as Debi had done. Her red hair was perfectly styled, her makeup was on point and she smelled nice. "That one," she said as she pointed at the girl. "Have that one."

"Isa…"

She softly kissed him and smiled as another thought came up in her head. She was certain that Kol would be up for it as they'd experimented before when they travelled the world a little. "And, if you manage to convince her that there's a party for three in an abandoned shack in the Bayou, take her with you."

"You're saying…"

"I'm saying," she nodded and kissed him again before putting her hand on his groin, already feeling his growing arousal. "It's Valentine's Day, why not gift you a threesome?"

He was salivating at the thought. "I love you."

"One condition though;" she said playfully as she squeezed his cock through the fabric of his pants. "No compulsion, think you can do that?"

"Oh, come on, who can resist a face like this?" Kol huffed. "I have a handsome face."

"That you do," she kissed him again. "Happy hunting, see you soon."

He watched her leave the club, heading towards the shack in the Bayou. His blood was already racing through his body, he wanted that threesome now, and he was so happy that she suggested it, and not him. He could also understand why her behaviour seemed all over the place since they got to New Orleans. She didn't like crowds. Knowing that Damon was having fun had been one item on her list and now, she gifted Kol a threesome.

If the girl she had picked out was game for it too. It was Valentine's Day and she looked single. Single women were always more desperate for a date at Valentine's. Of course she was going to be up for this.

Well, it was a good thing that he had excellent persuasion skills. He took a deep breath and joined the girl and her group of friends. "Hello," he greeted her with a smile on his face. "My name is Kol, can I buy you a drink?"

~o.O.o~

She took the time in the Bayou to center herself again, talk to the trees and catch up with Ezekiel. This was the last time she had accompanied Kol or Damon into a club because it screwed with her mind. She lost herself, and that wasn't fun. It made her angry that she was so sensitive to impulses like that.

But it was a part of her and sometimes it went well, and other days, like these, it just messed with her. Luckily, they were in New Orleans. Familiar ground. Familiar trees. Had it been in Los Angeles, she might have snapped and killed a few humans.

Sipping from the bottle of bourbon left at the shack by Niklaus, she waited patiently for Kol to return with their date. She couldn't wait, this was going to be so much fun.

After a while, she saw Kol appear with the girl in tow, she looked positively under the influence of a little bit of alcohol and she was all giggly. Isa hoped that she still knew what she was doing, though. It wouldn't be fun without an actively participating third partner.

"Isa, may I introduce Mariska to you?"

"Hi!" Isa smiled widely as she got to her feet to shake Mariska's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"And she's definitely on board."

"Well then," Isa looped her arm through Mariska's and directed her to the door. "Welcome, welcome! And happy Valentine's Day!"

Kol sighed happily as he closed the door behind him. This was going to be _fun_. "Happy Valentine's Day indeed."


End file.
